Microstructure, structural, optical and piezoelectric properties of BiFeO3 nanopowder synthesized from sol-gel

Nanocrystalline BiFeO3 (BFO) powder was synthesized by sol-gel method and subsequent annealed at 100-500 degrees C. The microstructural analysis of BFO nanopowder confirmed the perovskite like structure of spherical nanoparticles annealed at 500 degrees C. The Raman spectrum of BFO nanoparticles showed the rhombohedrally structure with the space group of R3c. The XPS spectrum of BFO nanopowder showed the peaks of Bi, Fe, and O at the binding energy of 158.8, 711.75 and 529.2 eV, respectively. The piezoelectric properties of BFO nanoparticles were evaluated by making the sandwiched structure of graphene/BiFeO3-PDMS/graphene. The fabricated piezoelectric device demonstrated an output voltage of 0.4 V by applying the normal pressure from human finger on the device. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.