A Comprative Study Of Sol-gel And Solid-state Prepared La3+ Doped Multiferroic BiFeO3

LaxBi1-xFeO3 (LBFO) samples were prepared by sol-gel route using citric acid as chelating agent for x = 0.0 - 0.4. The structure, dielectric and magnetic properties of the LBFO compounds were studied and compared with the corresponding properties of the materials prepared by a conventional solid state reaction. The use of the sol–gel method in preparation lowered the reaction threshold temperature by 200 °C. Effects of the preparation routes and conditions on the phase and microstructures of the materials were investigated in this study using XRD and SEM. The pure BFO without bismuth loss, which cannot be prepared by the solid state reaction, was obtained by the sol–gel method. Sol-gel synthesis could yield a pure phase material at relatively lower temperatures while the solid state method yielded powder with a small amount of the secondary Bi25FeO40 phase. Single phase LBFO prepared by sol-gel method (SG) revealed huge value of dielectric constant than same obtained by the solid state