Multifunctional properties and applications of yttrium ferrite nanoparticles prepared by citrate precursor route

Yttrium Ferrite nanoparticles were prepared by citrate precursor method at reasonably low temperature. Morphological and elemental studies reveal the formation of monophasic orthorhombic YFeO3 nanoparticles with fairly uniform distribution of nearly spherical particles, high specific surface area of similar to 338 m(2)/g and visible band gap of 2.5 eV. The electrical properties (i.e. dielectric and conductivity) were estimated from ac spectroscopic data as a function of temperature. The wasp-waisted shaped hysteresis loop displayed low H-c of 280 Oe, M-s of 2.0 emug(-1) and M-r of 0.45 emug(-1) indicating canted antiferromagnetism with weak ferromagnetic behaviour. In addition to ferromagnetism, a room temperature ferroelectric loop confirmed the multiferroic behaviour of the materials. The humidity sensing properties were investigated from 8 to 80% of RH (Relative Humidity) that showed a linear response with a sensitivity of 16 nF/RH% at room temperature. Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was constructed in combination with TiO2 powder to determine the photoconversion efficiency, current density and open circuit voltage. Photocatalytic generation of hydrogen by using YFeO3 nanoparticles has also been studied under the visible light irradiations which showed a significant H-2 evolution reaction rate up to 131.6 mu mol h(-1) g(-1).