Structural, optical, and magnetic properties of a new complex (1− x )Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 + x MgNiO 3− δ solid solution system

In this work, new complex binary solid solution (1− x )Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 + x MgNiO 3− δ materials had been synthesized by sol–gel method. Random incorporation of Mg and Ni cations into the host Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 lattices resulted in a distortion of lattice parameters and reduced the optical bandgap. The optical bandgap was estimated at approximately 3.06 eV for the pure Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 material and decreased to 2.82 eV for the 9 mol.%-MgNiO 3− δ solid solution. The complex magnetic behaviors of the (1− x )Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 + x MgNiO 3− δ systems were achieved as a function of MgNiO 3− δ amounts. The tunable magnetic properties of Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 through MgNiO 3− δ concentration control were important for integrating ferromagnetism into the lead-free ferroelectric Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 TiO 3 materials. We expected our method to provide an important technique to tailor magnetic properties in lead-free ferroelectric materials for smart electronic applications.