Preparation and characterization of BiFeO₃ nanopowders

Abstract
Conditions for synthesizing single phase BiFeO₃ are critical since the temperature stability range of the phase is very narrow. Moreover, it is also difficult to control oxygen stoichiometry in the sample; hence, various aspects of BiFeO₃ system have to be studied. The fine particles of BiFeO₃ are obtained using a wet chemical route and compared with the same product prepared by a classic solid state reaction. The powders are characterized by using various techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD) study is carried out for phase determination and lattice parameter calculations; scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to find out grain size and morphology. The sintered bulk materials were characterized (density, porosity, etc.) and correlated with the microstructure. This study underlines the role of the preparation route on the structural characteristic of the obtained nanopowders. Farther investigations on structure-property co-relation are in progress.