Effect of O-vacancies on magnetic properties of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles by solution evaporation method

•Bismuth ferrite was synthesized by solution evaporation method.•The effect of different annealing atmosphere on magnetic properties was studied.•The magnetic properties dramatically increased in case of Oxygen annealing.•The influence of crystalline size on magnetic properties was studied.•The magnetization was decreased as the temperature and crystallite size increased.

Bismuth ferrite is a multiferroic material which shows high magnetization and polarization at room temperature. In present work, the effect of Oxygen (O) vacancies on magnetic properties of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles is studied. Bismuth ferrite nanoparticles (BiFeO3) were synthesized by solution evaporation method (SEM) at room temperature. The sample was annealed under two different atmospheres such as in air and oxygen, to check the effect of O-vacancies on magnetic properties. The average crystallite size of Bismuth ferrite nanoparticles (NPs) as calculated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) falls in the range of 23–32 nm and 26–39 nm for the case of air and oxygen respectively. The crystallite size of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles increases as the temperature was varied from 450 °C to 650 °C. Further the influence of annealing temperature on the magnetic properties of the bismuth ferrite nanoparticles was also observed. It was concluded that the magnetic properties of Bismuth ferrite nanoparticles are directly interconnected to annealing atmosphere and annealing temperature. The magnetic properties were increased in the case of oxygen annealing, which actually leads in our case to an improvement of the crystallinity.

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