Spinel ferrites nanoparticles have an interesting process to synthesis new material with suitable properties for different technical and industrial applications. In this work, the Cu-doped Zn ferrite has been prepared by solid-state method. The structural characterization was done for the compound Zn0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 using X-ray powder diffraction. The optical, electrical, and magnetic properties were investigated using UV–Visible–Infrared spectroscopy, complex impedance spectroscopy, and hysteresis loop measurement, respectively. The refinement of X-ray diffraction pattern exhibits the existence of a single cubic phase having a \({\text{Fd}}\overline{3}{\text{m }}\) space group, which confirms the high homogeneity of the sample. The optical study shows the presence of a high reflectance in visible, near infrared region, and allowed to evaluate an energy value of the band gap equal to 3.2 eV. The analysis of the complex impedance measurement shows the presence of relaxation phenomena linked to the conduction mechanism in the material. The dc-conductivity evidences a regime change at 480 K in which the activation energy value increases from 0.32 to 0.62 eV. This increase can be explained by the distribution of Cu2+ ions, which contribute to the ionic conduction. The variation of dielectric constant with temperature indicates a ferroelectric behavior of relaxers. This is promising in the field of discovering of new relaxer materials without toxic components. The magnetic measurements reveal a zero field cooling/field cooling divergence with a blocking temperature around 75 K, indicating superparamagnetic behavior with thermally activated relaxation. Enhanced coercivity and remanence at low temperatures reflect increased anisotropy and magnetic moment alignment. Based on these results, the ferrite Zn0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 is suitable to be a promising candidate for a wide range of multifunctional device applications.
