Magnetic and optical properties of multiferroic bismuth ferrite nanoparticles by tartaric acid-assisted sol-gel strategy

摘要

Pure BiFeO_3 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized through the tartaric acid-assisted sol-gel method at relatively low temperature. The as-prepared nanoparticles were characterized by a variety of techniques. The success in preparing pure BiFeO_3 may be attributed to the formation of heterometallic polynuclear complexes in the tartaric acid system. The ferroelectric phase transition (T_C = 851 ℃) was determined, revealing the ferroelectric nature of the as-prepared BiFeO_3 nanoparticles. The result of magnetic measurement indicates the weak ferromagnetic order of BiFeO_3 nanoparticles at room temperature, which may be ascribed to the size confinement effect. The observed strong absorption in the UV region will enable BiFeO_3 nanoparticles to be potentially used as promising photocatalytic decomposition material.