Abstract
The influence of Bi content on structural, optical, and multiferroic properties of BiFeO
3
has been studied. The nanoparticles of BiFeO
3
with different Bi content such as Bi
0.00
FeO
3
, Bi
0.03
FeO
3
, Bi
0.05
FeO
3
, Bi
0.07
FeO
3
, and Bi
0.10
FeO
3
have been prepared using the nitric acid-assisted sol–gel method. The structural analysis of XRD patterns via Rietveld refinement revealed rhombohedral structure with
R3c
phase along with the minor secondary phase of Bi
2
Fe
4
O
9
. The crystallite size calculated using Scherrer’s formula was found to be in the range 56 nm ~ 41 nm. The lattice parameters and density were found in the range 8.78–8.81 Å and 6.10–6.13 g/cm
3
, respectively. The highest value of maximum polarization and remnant polarization were found to be 1.15 μC/cm
2
and 0.90 μC/cm
2
, respectively, for Bi
0.05
FeO
3
nanoparticles. The Bi
0.05
FeO
3
nanoparticles also showed a high dielectric constant with a smaller dielectric loss. The grain and grain boundaries have shown excellent electrical behavior as investigated via impedance, Modulus, and ac conductivity. The UV–Vis spectroscopy demonstrated that the Bi
0.05
FeO
3
nanoparticles show the maximum bandgap of ~ 1.96 eV. The dc magnetization results infer the weak ferromagnetic behavior of the Bi-excess—BiFeO
3
nanoparticles and indicate a maximum saturation magnetization of 0.24 emu/g for Bi
0.05
FeO
3
nanoparticles.