Magnetoelectric Coupling in Cu_0.5Co_0.5Fe₂O₄–PZT Particulate Composites

¹ Department of Physics, Sapthagiri NPS University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
² Department of Physics, Maharani cluster university, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Published online: 5 March 2026

Abstract

Multiferroic composites of yCu_0.5Co_0.5Fe₂O4 + (1-y)Pb(Zr_0.58Ti_0.42)O₃ (CCFO-PZT) with y = 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 were synthesized via solid-state reaction and studied for their structural, dielectric, magnetic and magnetoelectric (ME) properties. X-ray diffraction verified the presence of pure spinel (CCFO) and perovskite (PZT) phases, which are required for strain-mediated ME coupling. The dielectric constant (ε′) declined with frequency across all samples, with the highest ε′ (~200 at 10²Hz) in PZT-rich composites. AC resistivity followed a similar pattern, decreasing with increased ferrite concentration. Magnetic experiments revealed soft ferromagnetic behavior with low coercivity (0.230-0.235 kOe), and saturation magnetization increased from 27.71 to 28.26 emu/g with ferrite concentration. The ME coefficient peaks with a DC magnetic field, reaching 75, 90 and 61 mV/Oe•cm for y = 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 respectively. The y = 0.5 composition demonstrated excellent ME response, properly balancing the magnetic and piezoelectric phases. These composites show potential for a variety of applications including ME sensors, memory devices and energy harvesters.