Metal-Organic Precursor Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Multiferroic Properties of GdFeO3 Nanoparticles.

Abstract

GdFeO3 nanoparticles were fabricated by a facile metal–organic precursor method using citric acid as a complexing agent. The phase purity and structural analysis by powder X-ray diffraction and FTIR studies indicates that the material is highly crystalline with an orthorhombic structure. Electron microscopic (TEM and SEM) studies of rare earth ferrites reveal worm-shaped nanoparticles with an average grain size of 95 nm. The high-resolution TEM study provides an insightful image, which shows an interplanar spacing of approximately 0.12 nm that corresponds to the (112) crystalline plane. A high surface area of 231.5 m2 g–1 has been achieved with a mesoporous texture, which in turn gives a high dielectric constant. Well-defined hysteresis is obtained with a saturation magnetization of 17.5 emu g–1, remanent magnetization of 3.9 emu g–1, and coercive field of −446 Oe. Room-temperature ferroelectricity in GdFeO3 nanoparticles has been found for the first time with no leaky current and hence may be used in multistate memory devices.