Crystallization, non-isothermal kinetics and structural analysis of nanocrystalline multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) synthesized by combustion method

The synthesis of bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) in the nanocrystalline form is described in the present work with the help of self-combustion technique with DL-malic acid as fuel to obtain single-phase BiFeO3 nanopowders. The crystallization behavior for the formation of BiFeO3 was confirmed from the obtained powder diffraction pattern (p-XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis with simultaneous differential thermal analysis. Thermal measurements were carried out in the nitrogen atmosphere to determine the crystallization kinetics through various heating rates from simultaneous thermogravimetric-differential thermal (TG-DTA) analysis curve. The activation energies for the formation of BiFeO3 metal oxides formation were found to be around 124 kJ mol(-1) and 113 kJ mol(-1) from the phenomenological Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation or in short JMA. The growth mechanism along three dimensions was observed for all heating rates. The formation of single-phase BFO in nanocrystalline nature was confirmed through microstructural investigations by the use of transmission electron microscopic analysis. The selected area electron diffraction pattern of nanostructure bismuth ferrite for the sample calcinated at 800 degrees C reveals the diffraction miller indices planes {104} and doublet peaks of {110}, {202} which is in good agreement with that of the present powder XRD pattern. The magnetization for the synthesized samples calcinated indicates that there exists the magnetic order and existence of room-temperature magnetic saturation for the multiferroic BiFeO3.