Microwaves assisted hydrothermal synthesis of sub-micrometric BiFeO 3 particles

Microwave assisted hydrothermal synthesis is widely recognized to enhance powders crystallinity leading to a narrower particle size distribution compared to conventional hydrothermal approach. The synthesis of complex oxide systems still remains a challenge due to the multiplicity of oxidation states, morphologies and phases. Multiferroic materials, since exhibit magnetic and ferroelectric order in the same temperature range, are gaining increasing interest in information storage and sensors applications. The preparation of the well-known multiferroic BiFeO3, following a microwave hydrothermal approach, has been investigated in this work. The optimization of the experimental conditions (salt precursors, mineralizer concentration, temperature, time, etc.), is presented and discussed in terms of particles size distribution, phase purity and product morphology.