Simultaneous existence of magnetic and ferroelectric orders in bi-phase composites for multiferroic applications.

[Display omitted] • Facile synthesis of (1–x)[Bi 0.8 La 0.2 FeO 3 ] + x[Zn 0.5 Co 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 ] multiferroic composites using a cost-efficient method. • Diffraction analysis confirmed the development of the desired crystalline phases and development of phase pure composites. • Optimization to maximize recoverable energy density, maximum magnetization and remanence magnetization. Multiferroic materials has brought evolutionary impact in multifunctional devices that are exclusively based on magnetoelectric coupling. In this work, a bi-phasic composite series of the form; (1–x)[Bi 0.8 La 0.2 FeO 3 ] + x[Zn 0.5 Co 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 ] was prepared using sol–gel auto–combustion. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the rhombohedrally distorted cubic structure of BiFeO 3 and normal spinel cubic structure of Zn 0.5 Co 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 having R 3 c and Fd -3 m space group symmetry, respectively. A reduction in average crystallite size was observed by gradually enhancing the substituent spinel contents (x). Energy dispersive X-ray confirmed the presence of all the constituent elements in accordance with stoichiometrically calculated values. Mostly the particles having spherical shapes were observed via micro-graphical analysis. At x = 0.2, the composite sample showed the highest value of recoverable energy density as 7.2 × 10-2 mJ/cm3 with the highest value of % efficiency ∼ 88.83 %. A clear enhancement in saturation magnetization was observed from 0.16 to 19.87 emu/g. The remanent magnetization also increased from 0.018 to 6.363 emu/g by enhancing the spinel phase contents. Furthermore, coercivity also increased significantly from 672.98 Oe to 841.89 Oe in the composite samples. The highest squareness ratio M r : M s was observed at x = 0.3. These distinctive properties of the nanocomposites lead toward potential applications in multiferroic and spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]