Surface functionalization of BiFeO3: A pathway for the enhancement of dielectric and electrical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)–BiFeO3 composite films

Abstract

A novel two-phase composite film is prepared by the solvent casting method employing poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as polymer matrix and bismuth ferrite (BFO) as ceramic filler. The surfaces of BFO are functionalized by proper hydroxylating agents to activate their chemical nature. The structural analysis of the composite films confirms that the composites made up of functionalized BFO (BFO-OH) have a distorted rhombohedral structure. The morphological analysis shows that BFO-OH particles are equally distributed over the polymer matrix. The -OH functionality of BFO-OH is confirmed by FTIR. The dielectric and electrical studies at a frequency range from 100 Hz to 1 MHz reveal that PMMA-(BFO-OH) composites have enhanced dielectric constant as well as electrical conductivities, much higher than that of unmodified composites. According to the ferroelectric measurement result, the hydroxylated composite film shows a superior ferroelectric behavior than that of the unmodified one, with a remanent polarization (2Pr) of 2.764 μC/cm2.