Structural, electrical and magnetic properties of Bi(Ni0.45Ti0.45Fe0.10)O3

Nowadays, much attention is paid on the development of pure as well as mixed metal oxides to be used for multifunctional devices. In this paper, synthesis and extensive studies of electric and magnetic characteristics of bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3 (BFO) modified bismuth nickel titanate Bi(Ni0.5Ti0.5)O-3 (BNT) have been reported. A complex polycrystalline multiferroic of these lead-free compounds (BNT and BFO) in the ratio of 9:1 (i.e., Bi(Ni0.45Ti0.45Fe0.10)O-3) was synthesized using a standard high-temperature solidstate reaction technique at 1073 K in air atmosphere. The formation of a single-phase compound with tetragonal symmetry was determined by preliminary X-ray structural analysis. The average crystallite size, determined using X-ray peak broadening, was estimated to be 30 nm. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was employed to investigate the surface morphology of the compound. The grains were found to be uniformly distribution on the surfaces of the sample. Detailed studies of the effect of grains and grain boundary in the resistive and capacitive characteristics of the material at different frequencies and temperatures using the impedance spectroscopy have provided many interesting and useful results for applications. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.