Photoabsorption characterization and magnetic property of multiferroic BiFeO3 nanotubes synthesized by a facile sol–gel template process

This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of multiferroic BiFeO3 nanotubes. Perovskite BiFeO3 nanotubes with outer diameters 150–190 nm were synthesized by a facile sol–gel template method. The photoabsorption of BiFeO3 nanotubes was characterized by UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrometry. The BiFeO3 nanotubes show weak ferromagnetism at room temperature, unlike the antiferromagnetic order in bulk BiFeO3, reflecting the grain size-confinement effect on the magnetic ordering of BiFeO3.