BiFeO<sub>3</sub> Powders Synthesized by Different Sol-Gel Methods

Abstract

The multiferroic BiFeO3 powders with perovskite structure were synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion and conventional sol-gel methods, respectively. As-prepared powders were characterized by XRD, SEM and VSM techniques to investigate phase structure, microstructure and magnetic properties. The results show that the pure phase BiFeO3 powders are obtained successfully by sol-gel auto-combustion after calcining at 650°C for 2h and leaching by HNO3. Compared with conventional sol-gel method which got pure phase BiFeO3 powders at 800°C for 3h, the sol-gel auto-combustion technique can get more pure powders at low temperature, short time and low cost. The particle sizes of the BiFeO3 powders are smaller and well distributed by the sol-gel auto-combustion method than that of the conventional sol-gel method. Furthermore, the magnetic properties at room temperature prepared by the sol-gel auto-combustion methods are significant higher than that of conventional sol-gel method.