DefinePK

Abstract

The processing conditions of spinel ferrites have a significant impact on the electrical performance of the material but the effect of the sintering temperature on microstructural and electrical behaviour of NiZn nano-ferrites has not been well understood. Despite the positive results of densification and conduction process enhancement in the presence of thermal treatment previously observed in the literature, there are still discrepancies in the systemic correlation of the structural development process and resistivity. This gap needs to be filled because there is a vast array of electronic, magnetic, and energy storage device applications where the ability to accurately control the electrical properties of ferrite-based materials is essential. The main goal of this research was to explore the influence of sintering temperature on the density, grain size, electrical resistivity, and activation energy of NiZn nano-ferrites. The ceramic method was used to develop nano-ferrite specimens sintered at five temperatures (800-1200 C). Density measurements and grain size analysis were used to measure structural parameters, whilst resistivity across a range of temperatures was used to measure electrical properties. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD pairwise comparisons, correlation, multiple linear regression and principal component analysis were used as the statistical analyses. These findings revealed that density rose due to an increase in temperature as 4.21 g/cm 3 at 800 o C to 5.25 g/cm 3 at 1200 o C, and the grain size also increased as 0.41 u to 2.08 u. Conversely, the resistivity fell dramatically (p < 0.0001) to 4.48 to 6.32 Ω1 cm with an activation energy of 0.259 eV to 0.198 eV. Substantial negative relationships were found between resistivity and density (r = -0.981) as well as grain size (r = -0.974). These results helped to verify the claim that increased sintering temperatures positively affected structural densification and linking of grains, leading to better conduction channels. The work presented statistically confirmed evidence that the temperature of the sintering process is a decisive factor in controlling the electrical performance of NiZn nano-ferrites, which provides significant insights into their optimization in electronic devices.