Effect of Poly Sodium-p-Styrenesulfonate on the Phase Formation and Morphology of the Hydrothermally Synthesized Bismuth Ferrite Powders

Abstract

Rhombohedral bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) powders were hydrothermally synthesized by using C6H8BiNO7 and Fe (NO3)·5H2O as precursors, KOH as a mineralizer and poly sodium-p-styrenesulfonate (PSS) as an additive. The phase formation and morphology of the as-prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction,raman spectroscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In order to investigate the effects of PSS, a series of experiments were performed by changing the introduced amount of PSS and the hydrothermal reaction time. The results showed that the introduction of the PSS leads to the synthesized bismuth ferrite changes from the mixture of Bi2Fe4O9 and BiFeO3 to pure rhombohedral BiFeO3. Corresponding to the phase composition evolution, the particle morphology alters from nanosheets to microparticles. The magnetic properties of single-crystalline BiFeO3 powders were also characterized. Based on the experimental results, the phase formation mechanism of the rhombohedral BiFeO3 hydrothermally synthesized assisted with PSS was discussed.