Investigations on multiferroic properties of lead free (1-x)BCZT-xCZFMO based particulate ceramic composites

Present research work describes in detail the investigations related with the multiferroic properties of (1-x) Ba0.85Ca0.15Ti0.9Zr0.1O3-xC(0.6)Zn(0.4)Fe(1.7)Mn(0.3O4) [(1-x)BCZT-xCZFMO]; x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 1.0 composites, synthesized by conventional solid-state route. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns have predicted the perovskite tetragonal and spinel cubic structures of BCZT and CZFMO, respectively. Nearly spherical grains of BCZT and CZFMO have been observed through the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images, whereas nonuniform plate-like morphology has been indicated for the composites. The lossy behavior of composites with the increase in ferrite concentration is evident from the Polarization versus applied electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops. The well-saturated magnetization versus applied magnetic field (M-H) hysteresis loops has been obtained for the composites. In temperature dependent dielectric measurements, ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition of BCZT is affected by the concentration of the ferrite phase, indicating the presence of magnetoelectric coupling effect (ME) in composites. Further, the composites have also shown magnetodielectric (MD) response, which provides a pathway to quantify ME coupling by evaluating various coupling coefficients. The maximum values of MD coefficient, ME coupling coefficient (gamma), ME voltage susceptibility (chi(E)) and ME susceptibility (chi) have been found to be 0.72%, 2.372 x 10(-4) (g/emu)(2), -2.415 mV/cm.Oe and 1.397 x 10(-11) s/m, respectively for x = 0.1 composite, which has been found to decrease at higher ferrite concentrations.