Abstract
Zinc aluminate nanoparticles with average particle size of 40 nm were synthesized using a sol–gel combustion method. X-ray diffractometry result was analysed by Rietveld refinement method to establish the phase purity of the material. Different stages of phase formation of the material during the synthesis were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and differential thermogravimetric analysis. Particle size was determined with transmission electron microscopy and the optical bandgap of the nanoparticles was determined by absorption spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible range. Dielectric permittivity and a.c. conductivity of the material were measured for frequencies from 100 kHz to 8 MHz in the temperature range of 30–120°C. The presence of Maxwell–Wagner type interfacial polarization was found to exist in the material and hopping of electron by means of quantum mechanical tunneling is attributed as the reason for the observed a.c. conductivity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ciupina V, Carazeanua I and Prodan G 2004 J. Optoelectron. Adv. M. 6 1317
Devan R S, Kolekar Y D and Chougule B K 2006 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 18 9809
Elimat Z M, Zihlif A M and Ragosta G 2008 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 165408
El-Samanoudy M M 2002 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 14 1199 PII: S0953–8984 (02) 26167–6
Ghosh A, Bhattacharya S, Bhattacharya D P and Ghosh A 2008 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 20 035203
Keer H V 1998 Principles of solid state physics (New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Ltd.)
Koops C G 1951 Phys. Rev. 83 1
Mohammed E M and Anantharaman M R 2002 J. Instrum. Soc. India 32 165
Pandey R, Gale J D, Sampath S K and Recio J M 1999 J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 82 3337
Pohl H A 1978 Dielectrophoresis (London: Cambridge University Press)
Roy M K, Haldar B and Verma H C 2006 Nanotechnology 17 232
Tareev B 1975 Physics of dielectric materials (Moscow: Mir Publishers)
van der Laag N J, Snela M D, Magusin P C M M and de With G 2004 J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 24 2417
Veena Gopalan E, Malini K A, Saravanan S, Sakthi Kumar D, Yoshida Y and Anantharaman M R 2008 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 185005
Wagner K W 1993 Ann. Phys. 40 817
Wei X and Chen D 2006 Mater. Lett. 60 823
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
JAMAL, E.M.A., KUMAR, D.S. & ANANTHARAMAN, M.R. On structural, optical and dielectric properties of zinc aluminate nanoparticles. Bull Mater Sci 34, 251–259 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-011-0071-y
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-011-0071-y