A systematic study of structural, magnetic and electric properties of perovskite-spinel composites prepared by sol-gel technique

Abstract

Multiferroics composite of perovskite BiFeO3 and spinel ferrites NiFe2O4/ZnFe2O4/CoFe2O4 with different composition were prepared by sol-gel method. Detailed investigations were made on the structural, magnetic and ferroelectric properties of these composites. The X-Ray Diffraction pattern confirms the formation of distorted perovskite and spinel phases of BiFeO3 and NiFe2O4, ZnFe2O4, CoFe2O4 respectively. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images reveals the particle size and the elemental idea of phase formation. The particle sizes calculated using TEM of NiFe2O4, ZnFe2O4, CoFe2O4 are 10–20 nm, 20–30 nm, 15–25 nm respectively and these are compatible with XRD results. The results of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images reveal that all the samples exhibit a very uniform distribution of perovskite and spinel phases in composites. The modified microstructure of composites is effective in reducing the leakage of electric charges which occurs due to a chain formation of the spinel-ferrite phase particle, so the electrical, magnetic and ferroelectric properties of composites may improve with spinel ferrites content.