Influence of strontium and nickel co-doping on the microstructure, dielectric and magnetic properties of barium-strontium-nickel titanate

Abstract

The elastic, thermodynamic, and optoelectronic properties of cubic ABO3 [A = Ba, Ca, Sr; B = Ce, Ti, Zr] perovskites have been studied theoretically. It was found that BaTiO3 has the lowest bandgap among these nine compounds. A theoretical study has also been performed to investigate the effect of the co-doping of Sr and Ni on the optoelectronic properties of BaTiO3. An influence of co-doping was observed in optical properties of doped-BaTiO3. Based on the theoretical results, various Ba1-x(Sr0.5Ni0.5)xTiO3 compositions were synthesized using the conventional solid-state technique. Samples prepared from each composition were sintered at different temperatures. Samples with the optimum sintering temperature of 1250oC have been characterized by XRD, complex impedance spectroscopy, FESEM, EDS, and VSM analysis. Different fitting approaches like Scherer and W-H methods, non-linear modified Debye equation, Jonscher’s power law, and Law of Approach to Saturation have been followed to investigate experimental and calculated properties.Rietveld analysis shows a phase change for different values of x. The samples having composition with x = 0.15 is less porous and has better dielectric properties, while x = 0.25 has a larger grain size with better magnetic properties. Different experimental and their calculated properties show good consistencies.Co-doping of Sr and Ni in BaTiO3 shows promising electrical properties with weak magnetism, which fall in the category of iron-free multiferroics. These synthesized materials can be a promising candidate to design a wide range of novel multifunctional devices, including capacitor technology, electromagnetics sensor, spintronics