Hydrothermal synthesis of perovskite bismuth ferrite crystallites with the help of NH4Cl.

Bismuth ferrite nanopowders were hydrothermally synthesized with and without NH4Cl for comparison. The effects of NaOH concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time on the product phases and morphologies were studied in detail. Pure BiFeO3 was synthesized in a wide hydrothermal condition with the help of NH4Cl. Especially, it can be synthesized at low temperature of 140 degrees C. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectra revealed the BiFeO3 products had a perovskite structure. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that different BiFeO3 morphologies were formed under different hydrothermal conditions. NH4Cl played a key role in the BiFeO3 formation and BiFeO3 morphologies. Part BiFeO3 samples exhibited weak magnetic properties.