Nanosized bismuth ferrite powder prepared through sonochemical and microemulsion techniques

Two processing routes, namely sonochemical and microemulsion have been exploited to prepare bismuth ferrite powders. Phase pure nanosized BiFeO3 powders are prepared by sonochemical and microemulsion techniques in the temperature range of 400 degrees C and at 500 degrees C which is much lower than that of the conventional preparation methods. The XRD obtained from both cases was likely to be pure bismuth ferrite. Though the microemulsion based powders showed slightly better properties with respect to particle size, surface area, and final density, sonochemically prepared powders may be more acceptable considering the ease of preparation and cost effectiveness. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.