LAUSR

Abstract CoFe2O4–BiFeO3 (CFO–BFO) nanocomposites of three different molar ratios (CFO:BFO = 2:2, 1.5:2, and 1:2) were synthesized by a combination hydrothermal/citric acid sol-gel method. This methodology allowed us to synthesize high-purity crystalline nanocomposites at a lower calcination temperature of 450 °C. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the CFO and BFO nanocrystals are inter-embedded in each other. Room-temperature magnetic characterizations showed that the sintered sample of the 2:2 ratio had a high magnetization value of 40.5 emu/g at 20 kOe. The values of magnetization and coercivity indicated the presence of dipolar interaction between CFO and BFO. The electric-polarization change (ΔP) was estimated to be ~295 μC/m2 at a magnetic field strength of ~30 kOe at room temperature, although the polarization-electric field (P–E) loop measurements indicated that all of the samples manifested leaky behavior. The results presented herein offer a means of reliable magnetic-field control of electric polarization in high-purity multiferroic CFO–BFO nanocomposites.