Enhanced Multiferroic Properties of YMnO₃ Ceramics Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering Along with Low-Temperature Solid-State Reaction.

Meng Wang,Ting Wang,Shishan Ji,Shenhua Song,Renchen Liu,Muchakayala Ravi

doi:10.3390/ma10050474

Meng Wang, Ting Wang + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10050474

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Journal: Materials	Publication Date: Apr 28, 2017
Citations: 11	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University

Abstract

Based on precursor powders with a size of 200–300 nm prepared by the low-temperature solid-state reaction method, phase-pure YMnO3 ceramics are fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that the high-purity YMnO3 ceramics can be prepared by SPS at 1000 °C for 5 minutes with annealing at 800 °C for 2 h. The relative density of the sample is as high as 97%, which is much higher than those of the samples sintered by other methods. The present dielectric and magnetic properties are much better than those of the samples fabricated by conventional methods and SPS with ball-milling precursors, and the ferroelectric loops at room temperature can be detected. These findings indicate that the YMnO3 ceramics prepared by the low temperature solid reaction method and SPS possess excellent dielectric lossy ferroelectric properties at room temperature, and magnetic properties at low temperature (10 K), making them suitable for potential multiferroic applications.

Highlights

Multiferroic material, which possesses ferroelasticity, ferroelectricity, and ferromagnetism, has become one of the most important research interests in functional ceramics
YMnO3 powders were synthesized via the low-temperature solid reaction method; the raw reagents include Mn(CH3 COO)2 ·4H2 O, Y(NO3 )3 ·6H2 O, and citric acid
Compared with other reports, the dielectric constant is obviously higher, and the dielectric loss is lower in the present study, proving that the YMnO3 ceramics with high density, few defects, and low impurities were prepared in this study

Summary

Introduction

Multiferroic material, which possesses ferroelasticity, ferroelectricity, and ferromagnetism, has become one of the most important research interests in functional ceramics. Only Ma has studied YMnO3 ceramics sintered by SPS [10] In view of this situation, a method for precursor fabrication, namely the low-temperature solid state reaction method, has the priority of low processing temperature, pure phase production, low cost, easy fabrication procedure, and ultrafine particle size. It only needs grinding in an agate mortar to fabricate precursors, so the procedure is greatly simplified.

Experimental Procedures

Results and Discussion

Conclusions