Structural and electrical properties of sol–gel grown nanostructured ZnO and LaMnO3 particle-based nanocomposites

In this communication, structural and electrical properties have been discussed for chemically grown ZnO–LaMnO3 (ZnO–LMO) nanocomposites. Nanocomposites were prepared by mixing the different weights, i.e., ratios of ZnO to LMO, 100:0, 95:5, 90:10, 85:15, and 0:100 wt% of ZnO:LMO in their composite form. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement shows that all the pure and composite samples possess single-phase nature without any detectable impurity. Particle size and shape were identified using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurement. Frequency-dependent dielectric constant (e′), loss tangent (tanδ), real and imaginary parts of the electric modulus (M′ and M′′), and a.c. conductivity have been carried out at room temperature for all the samples. Dielectric behavior has been understood in the context of universal dielectric relaxation (UDR) model and relaxation mechanism fits well throughout the frequency range studied. Variation in a.c. conductivity has been discussed on the basis of Jonscher’s universal power law.