Magnetoelectric Coupling in Cu 0.5 Co 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 –PZT Particulate Composites

Multiferroic composites of yCu 0.5 Co 0.5 Fe 2 O4 + (1-y)Pb(Zr 0.58 Ti 0.42 )O 3 (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 10 2 Hz) 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.