Bi1-xEuxFeO3 Powders: Synthesis, Characterization, Magnetic and Photoluminescence Properties

Vasile-Adrian Surdu; Roxana Doina Trușcă; Bogdan Ștefan Vasile; Ovidiu Cristian Oprea; Eugenia Tanasă; Lucian Diamandescu; Ecaterina Andronescu; Adelina Carmen Ianculescu

doi:10.3390/nano9101465

Bi_1-xEu_xFeO₃ Powders: Synthesis, Characterization, Magnetic and Photoluminescence Properties

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2019 Oct 16;9(10):1465. doi: 10.3390/nano9101465.

Authors

Vasile-Adrian Surdu¹, Roxana Doina Trușcă², Bogdan Ștefan Vasile³, Ovidiu Cristian Oprea⁴, Eugenia Tanasă⁵, Lucian Diamandescu⁶, Ecaterina Andronescu⁷, Adelina Carmen Ianculescu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. adrian.surdu@upb.ro.
² Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. truscaroxana@yahoo.com.
³ Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. bogdan.vasile@upb.ro.
⁴ Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. ovidiu73@yahoo.com.
⁵ Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. eugenia.vasile27@gmail.com.
⁶ National Institute of Materials Physics, 077125 Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania. diamand@infim.ro.
⁷ Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. ecaterina.andronescu@upb.ro.
⁸ Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu Street no. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania. a_ianculescu@yahoo.com.

Abstract

Europium substituted bismuth ferrite powders were synthesized by the sol-gel technique. The precursor xerogel was characterized by thermal analysis. Bi_1-xEu_xFeO₃ (x = 0-0.20) powders obtained after thermal treatment of the xerogel at 600 °C for 30 min were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Magnetic behavior at room temperature was tested using vibrating sample magnetometry. The comparative results showed that europium has a beneficial effect on the stabilization of the perovskite structure and induced a weak ferromagnetism. The particle size decreases after the introduction of Eu³⁺ from 167 nm for x = 0 to 51 nm for x = 0.20. Photoluminescence spectroscopy showed the enhancement of the characteristic emission peaks intensity with the increase of Eu³⁺ concentration.

Keywords: bismuth ferrite; magnetic properties; photoluminescence properties; sol-gel process.