Effect of Li doping on the structural and electrical properties of MgFe2O4 synthesized by sol-gel method

Magnesium ferrite nanoparticles with inverse spinel structure have attracted much attention because of their excellent structural, magnetic and electrical properties. Our goal is to study the structural, electrical and dielectric properties of Lithium doped Mg1-xLixFe2+ᵟO4 where x = (0.0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) synthesized by solgel method. Sintering of the material was followed at 950 degrees C for 4 h. The characterization of the samples was done by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique used to analyze the structural properties of the sample which confirmed the cubic structure without any secondary phase. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirmed the formation spinel structure. Dielectric and impedance studies of the samples in frequency range of 20 Hz to 3 MHz at room temperatures was done by using Precision Component Analyzer. DC conductivity was measured using two probe method and that showed increasing trend with increasing temperature. It is demonstrated that the doped samples showed highly improved properties than that of pure sample. The highest value of conductivity for x = 0.2 is 1.8 x 10-3 S/m. The increased conductivity and improved stability of the samples make them potential candidate for the environmental, industrial and many other biomedical applications.