Multiferroic properties of stretchable BiFeO3 nano-composite film

Abstract

We present a simple drop-casting method for preparing multiferroic nano-composite film where BiFeO3 (BFO) nanoparticles (NPs) were evenly dispersed into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer. BFO NPs used in this work were synthesized by the conventional sol-gel method, having diameter of tens of nm and being in good crystallinity. The BFO NPs were loaded into a highly insulating PVA polymer solution as filler. The multiferroic properties of the film reveal ferromagnetic ordering due to the uncompensated spiral ordering and saturated ferroelectric curves due to the cut-off of current leakage. Moreover, the prepared films show high flexibility and their multiferroicities are preserved well even in a high curved condition, reflecting the possibility for fabricating wearable devices based on multiferroic materials. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.