Investigation on the structure-optimized magnetic properties of hydrothermally synthesized SrBi_2−X(CF)_XNb₂O₉ multiferroic nanocomposites

Abstract

Hydrothermally synthesized nano multiferroic SrBi2-X(CF)XNb2O9 (SBN-CF), (CF = CoFe2O4 & X = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) composite’s structure correlated magnetic attributes in view of reaction, exchange, and transport of ions have been comprehended from the perspective of electronic sector applications. The produced materials’ phase genesis, morphology, chemical composition, and magnetic characteristics were studied by XRD/Rietveld analysis, FEGSEM/EDS, FTIR, and VSM respectively. The Rietveld analysis of XRD data confirmed a single-phase orthorhombic structure of SBN. Further ferroelectric and cubic spinel structures of the ferrite phase have been noticed from the introduction of CF into the SBN host matrix. The crystallite size as computed (∼23–41 nm) from Debye Scherer’s formula was found to increase with dopant concentration. The imbibed morphological changes necessitated octahedral-shaped grains. The stoichiometric proportion with pronounced absorption bands is evident in EDS and FTIR studies. The impact of CF on SBN was unraveled at room temperature from the VSM study. The saturation magnetization was increased from 0.00 to 3.96 emu g−1, and the obtained coercivity values enhanced from 0.50 to 1400 Oe, due to the random fluctuations of the energy due to domain wall movements, interacting with the defective structure of the SBN material. The stress-induced distortion due to the variation in concentration of CF in SBN was configured from Y-K angles and increased from 33.55° to 61.49°. The high coercivity with a squareness value of less than 0.5 enunciates the genesis of a new class of materials for use in permanent magnet applications and memory devices.