skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Magnetoelectricity in CoFe2O4 nanocrystal-P(VDF-HFP) thin films

Journal Article · · Nanoscale Research Letters (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [6];  [1]
  1. City College of New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; City Univ. of New York (CUNY), NY (United States). Energy Institute; The Graduate Center of City Univ. of New York (CUNY), NY (United States). Department of Chemistry
  2. City College of New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Department of Mechanical Engineering; City Univ. of New York (CUNY), NY (United States). Energy Institute
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  4. City College of New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Physics
  5. City College of New York, NY (United States). Department of Mechanical Engineering
  6. City College of New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Transition metal ferrites such as CoFe2O4, possessing a large magnetostriction coefficient and high Curie temperature (Tc > 600 K), are excellent candidates for creating magnetic order at the nanoscale and provide a pathway to the fabrication of uniform particle-matrix films with optimized potential for magnetoelectric coupling. Here, a series of 0–3 type nanocomposite thin films composed of ferrimagnetic cobalt ferrite nanocrystals (8 to 18 nm) and a ferroelectric/ piezoelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene), P(VDF-HFP), were prepared by multiple spin coating and cast coating over a thickness range of 200 nm to 1.6 μm. We describe the synthesis and structural characterization of the nanocrystals and composite films by XRD, TEM, HRTEM, STEM, and SEM, as well as dielectric and magnetic properties, in order to identify evidence of cooperative interactions between the two phases. The CoFe2O4 polymer nanocomposite thin films exhibit composition-dependent effective permittivity, loss tangent, and specific saturation magnetization (Ms). An enhancement of the effective permittivity and saturation magnetization of the CoFe2O4-P(VDF-HFP) films was observed and directly compared with CoFe2O4-polyvinylpyrrolidone, a non-ferroelectric polymer-based nanocomposite prepared by the same method. The comparison provided evidence for the observation of a magnetoelectric effect in the case of CoFe2O4-P(VDF-HFP), attributed to a magnetostrictive/piezoelectric interaction. An enhancement of Ms up to +20.7% was observed at room temperature in the case of the 10 wt.% CoFe2O4-P(VDF-HFP) sample.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
Grant/Contract Number:
AR0000114; 0833180; AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
1629166
Journal Information:
Nanoscale Research Letters (Online), Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 1556-276X
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (31)

Multiferroic BaTiO3-CoFe2O4 Nanostructures journal January 2004
High Energy Density Nanocomposites Based on Surface-Modified BaTiO 3 and a Ferroelectric Polymer journal August 2009
Ferroelectric Polymers journal June 1983
Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials journal August 2006
Multiferroics progress and prospects in thin films journal January 2007
Sol−Gel-Derived Epitaxial Nanocomposite Thin Films with Large Sharp Magnetoelectric Effect journal October 2010
Epitaxial BiFeO3 Multiferroic Thin Film Heterostructures journal March 2003
Direct observation of a coupling between spin, lattice and electric dipole moment in multiferroic YMnO 3 journal May 2005
Colossal electroresistance and colossal magnetoresistance in spinel multiferroic CdCr2S4 journal March 2010
Why Are There so Few Magnetic Ferroelectrics? journal July 2000
Recent Progress in Multiferroic Magnetoelectric Composites: from Bulk to Thin Films journal February 2011
Magnetoelectric Coupling Effects in Multiferroic Complex Oxide Composite Structures journal April 2010
Giant Electrostriction and Relaxor Ferroelectric Behavior in Electron-Irradiated Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) Copolymer journal June 1998
Piezoelectric responses in poly(vinylidene fluoride/hexafluoropropylene) copolymers journal June 2007
Ferroelectric polarization in stretched piezo- and pyroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) copolymer films journal December 2002
Phase transition and properties of a ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) copolymer journal April 2005
Anisotropy and Magnetostriction of Some Ferrites journal September 1955
Synthesis and magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles journal May 2009
Enhanced Ferroelectric Phase Content of Polyvinylidene Difluoride Fibers with the Addition of Magnetic Nanoparticles journal August 2008
Large magnetoelectric coupling coefficient in poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene)/Metglas laminates journal November 2011
Dielectric and magnetic properties of ferrite/poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposites journal January 2012
Giant Magnetodielectric Effect in 0−3 Ni 0.5 Zn 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 -Poly(vinylidene-fluoride) Nanocomposite Films journal July 2010
A simple solvothermal synthesis of MFe2O4 (M=Mn, Co and Ni) nanoparticles journal October 2009
Preparation and electroactive properties of a PVDF/nano-TiO2 composite film journal February 2011
Magnetic and dielectric properties of barium ferrite fibers/poly(vinylidene fluoride) composite films journal April 2011
Structural, magnetic and electrical properties of cobalt ferrites prepared by the sol–gel route journal October 2008
Photo-curable epoxy functionalized cyclotetrasiloxane as a gate dielectric for organic thin film transistors journal July 2010
Dielectric constant for binary piezoelectric 0‐3 composites journal March 1993
Calculation of Elastic and Piezoelectric Constants of Polymer Crystals by a Point Charge Model: Application to Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Form I journal May 1980
Size-Controlled Synthesis of Quasi-Monodisperse Transition-Metal Ferrite Nanocrystals in Fatty Alcohol Solutions journal November 2009
Size-Dependent Superparamagnetic Properties of Mn Spinel Ferrite Nanoparticles Synthesized from Reverse Micelles journal June 2001

Cited By (5)

Ultra-Sensitive Strain Sensor Based on Flexible Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Piezoelectric Film journal March 2018
A flexible magnetoelectric field-effect transistor with magnetically responsive nanohybrid gate dielectric layer journal September 2015
Hollandites as a new class of multiferroics journal August 2014
Optimization of dielectric properties of PVDF-CFO nanocomposites journal November 2018
Solvent-assisted optimal BaTiO 3 nanoparticles-polymer composite cluster formation for high performance piezoelectric nanogenerators journal November 2014