Enhanced room temperature ferromagnetism in porous BiFeO3 prepared using cotton templates

Porous BiFeO3 has been prepared using cotton templates. Strongly enhanced ferromagnetism with saturate magnetization of 3 emu/g at 300 K has been observed. An energy band gap of 2.21 eV was determined from the UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum. The Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicate the existence of Fe2+ and the suppression of the oxygen octahedral tilts. The enhanced ferromagnetism has been attributed to the enhanced double exchange interaction with increased angle of Fe2 +–O–Fe3 +.

Research highlights
► Porous BiFeO3 has been prepared by tartaric acid modified sol–gel technique with cotton templates.
► Enhanced ferromagnetism with saturate magnetization of 3 emu/g at 300 K has been observed.
► The enhanced ferromagnetism has been attributed to the enhanced double exchange interaction with increased angle of Fe2+–O–Fe3+.