An Investigation on Structural and Optical Properties of Nanocrystalline Bismuth Ferrite and Manganese Sillenite Powders

Abstract

Nanocrystalline bismuth ferrite BFO; BiFeO3 and manganese sillenite, BMO; Bi12MnO20 (BMO) powders have been successfully elaborated using a facile co-precipitation approach. The formed materials were examined using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Furthermore, the change in the optical properties was performed based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and UV-visible spectrophotometer. Typical, pure BiFeO3 and Bi12MnO20 phases were detected for the precursors precipitated at pH 10 based on ammonium hydroxide as a base then annealed at 500°C for 2h. Eventually, the optical band gap energy of BFO and BMO using Kubelka–Munk function based on Tauc’s plot was found to be 2.12 and 2.79 eV, respectively.