Enhancement of Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystalline BiFeO3 Synthesized by a Facile Sol-Gel Auto-Combustion Process
Mehedi Hasan1, Md. Fakhrul Islam2
1Mehedi Hasan, Department of Glass and Ceramic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2Dr. Md. Fakhrul Islam, Department of Glass and Ceramic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Manuscript received on July 01, 2015. | Revised Manuscript received on July 08, 2015. | Manuscript published on July 31, 2015. | PP: 1-4 | Volume-2 Issue-8, July 2015. | Retrieval Number: H0319072815
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: In this study a facile sol-gel auto-combustion methodology has been used to synthesize nearly pure BiFeO3 (BFO) nanocrystals at relatively low temperature. An optimum synthesis condition has been established to obtain particles with spherical shape and uniform size distribution. Well crystallized BFO nanoparticles of average particle size 26 nm have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Size and morphology of the synthesized materials are observed using Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). Magnetic hysteresis loop measurement of BFO nanoparticles shows substantial improvement in saturation magnetization with a value of ∼ 6.5 emu/g compared to 0.1 emu/g for the bulk antiferromagnetic sample. The origin of the magnetic property can be attributed to the size confinement effect for the particles with size less than 62 nm, period of the spiral modulated spin structure.
Keywords: BiFeO3 , ferromagnetism, nanoparticles, sol-gel auto-combustion.