Multiferroic properties of (1 −x)[0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–0.06BaTiO3]–xCoFe2O4ceramics

Multiferroic composite ceramics of (1 − x)[0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–0.06BaTiO3]–xCoFe2O4 (BBNTO–CFOx), x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, have been prepared and their structure, magnetoelectric (ME) effect, magnetic and ferroelectric properties have been investigated. x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy show that the ceramics consist of separated perovskite BBNTO and spinel CFO. The ME effect is revealed by measuring the magnetic hysteresis loops of the same sample before and after electric poling. The magnetization increases gradually with increasing CFO content. Further electric measurements reveal that BBNTO–CFO0.30 has the largest polarization with a remanent polarization of 60.9 µC cm−2, which is even larger than that of pure BBNTO. The enhanced ferroelectricity might be ascribed to the ME effect. Our results may be helpful for developing new lead-free multiferroic composites with improved properties.