# Self-Assembled Room Temperature Multiferroic BiFeO3-LiFe5O8 Nanocomposites

## TL;DR

This paper reports the development of a new room-temperature multiferroic nanocomposite made of BiFeO3 and LiFe5O8, revealing how Li doping induces phase separation and enhances multiferroic properties, supported by experimental imaging and first principles calculations.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel self-assembled multiferroic nanocomposite at room temperature with insights into Li doping effects and phase formation mechanisms.

## Key findings

- Li doping favors LFO secondary phase formation
- Multimodal imaging maps phase separation and ferroic properties
- First principles calculations support phase energetics understanding

## Abstract

Multiferroic materials have driven significant research interest due to their promising technological potential. Developing new room-temperature multiferroics and understanding their fundamental properties are important to reveal unanticipated physical phenomena and potential applications. Here, a new room temperature multiferroic nanocomposite comprised of an ordered ferrimagnetic spinel LiFe5O8 (LFO) and a ferroelectric perovskite BiFeO3 (BFO) is presented. We observed that lithium (Li)-doping in BFO favors the formation of LFO spinel as a secondary phase during the synthesis of LixBi1-xFeO3 nanoceramics. Multimodal functional and chemical imaging methods are used to map the relationship between doping-induced phase separation and local ferroic properties in both the BFO-LFO composite ceramics and self-assembled nanocomposite thin films. The energetics of phase separation in Li doped BFO and the formation of BFO-LFO composites is supported by first principles calculations. These findings shed light on Li-ion role in the formation of a functionally important room temperature multiferroic and open a new approach in the synthesis of light element doped nanocomposites.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1908.04825