Room temperature magnetoelectric properties of lead-free alkaline niobate based particulate composites

Abstract The room temperature magnetoelectric properties of lead-free K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 (KNN) and CoFe 2 O 4 (CFO) particulate composites having general formula (1- x ) KNN/ x CFO (where x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5)are presented here. Structural studies confirm the presence of phase pure KNN and CFO in the composites. Microstructural properties and grain size evaluations are carried out by using FESEM and TEM micrographs. The well-defined P-E and M-H hysteresis loops obtained for all the composites confirmed their multiferroic properties. The highest magnetocapacitance of 30 % at low frequency of 4 kHz and 5 % at a high frequency of 100 kHz are noted for the composite with 40 % CFO. Also, the composite with 40 % CFO showed a maximum ME coupling coefficient of 28 mV/cm.Oe. The room temperature coupling properties and high magnetocapacitance at low frequencies makes this non lead-based ME nanocomposites as a promising candidate in the field of MEMS.