Ultrafast Microwave Hydrothermal Synthesis of <scp> <scp>BiFeO</scp> </scp> ₃ Nanoplates

Abstract

We report the synthesis of {100} c facets exposed single‐crystalline BiFeO 3 ( BFO ) nanoplates, with thickness ranging from 20 to 160 nm and lateral size of submicrometers, via a simple and very rapid (1–2 min) microwave‐assisted hydrothermal approach. We show that the microwave treatment gives comparable improvement in crystallinity of BFO nanocrystals with respect to traditional hydrothermal processes while requiring significantly less time and energy. In addition, we show that microwave radiation power, reaction time, and alkali concentration play important roles in the crystallinity and morphology of the products. We discuss a possible formation mechanism of the nanoplates based on our experimental results. Additionally, the BFO nanoplates exhibit weak ferromagnetic properties at room temperature, which we attribute to the size‐confinement effect on magnetic ordering. The present microwave hydrothermal method has great potential in large‐scale fabrication of BFO nanomaterials as well as other composite functional materials due to significantly reduced time and energy.