Multiferroic behavior of room temperature bismuth ferrite with tailored calcination temperature

Abstract

One of the few materials that is multiferroic (antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric) is bismuth ferrite. In this study, we used the sol-gel method to create multiferroic bismuth ferrite and examined its structural and optical characteristics. The annealing temperature used to create bismuth ferrite was 600°C. The rhombohedral crystal structure was revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation. The XRD diffractogram data examines the phase and planes of orientation for the synthesized materials. The crystalline size for the peak was determined using the Scherrer equation. Analysis using the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) confirmed the existence of M-O octahedral and tetrahedral coordinates of the M-O bonds formed. The Fourier transform infrared in the wavenumber range of 500–850 cm−1 has been used to study the vibrational modes of the octahedral and tetrahedral metal complexes in the sample. Studies using a FESEM show that the synthesized nanocomposite has morphological characteristics, including interconnected agglomerates with spherical, irregular, or non-uniform elongated forms. By increasing the loading percentage of bismuth ferrite, the composite remnant magnetization (Mr) and saturation magnetization (Ms) values were discovered to be 0.43701 emu/g and 0.1940 emu/g, respectively. A frequency range of 10 Hz to 106 Hz was used to study the dielectric measurement of the nanocomposites. In the temperature range of 310 to 525 K, the AC conductivity has been measured, and it has been discovered that conductivity decreases as temperature rises. A temperature increase results in a reduction in the dielectric constant and dielectric loss. The initial data imply that the nanocomposite is a possible contender for use in capacitors with high dielectric constants. The composite will be useful for usage in hard disc components due to its magnetic characteristics, which is significant.