One-dimensional multiferroic bismuth ferrite fibers obtained by electrospinningtechniques

Abstract

We report the fabrication of novel multiferroic nanostructured bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) fibers using the sol–gel based electrospinning technique. Phase pureBiFeO3 fibers were prepared by thermally annealing the electrospunBiFeO3/polyvinylpyrrolidone composite fibersin air for 1 h at 600 °C. The x-ray diffraction pattern of the fibers (BiFeO3) obtained showed that their crystalline structures were rhombohedralperovskite structures. Both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) andtransmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that theBiFeO3 fibers were composed of fine grained microstructures. The grains were self-assembled andself-organized to yield dense and continuous fibrous structures. The magnetic hysteresis loops ofthese nanostructured fibers displayed the expected ferromagnetic behavior, whereby a coercivity of ∼ 250 Oe and a saturationmagnetization of ∼ 1.34 emu g − 1 were obtained. The ferroelectricity and ferroelectric domain structures of the fibers wereconfirmed using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). The piezoelectric hysteresisloops and polar domain switching behavior of the fibers were examined. Suchmultiferroic fibers are significant for electroactive applications and nano-scale devices.