Inorganic–organic multiferroic hybrid films of Fe3O4 and PVDF with significant magneto-dielectric coupling

Abstract

Flexible and self-standing inorganic-organic hybrid films of silica coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer with significant magneto-dielectric coupling have been prepared at low temperature by a simple solvent casting method. PVDF films with two different concentrations of silica coated Fe₃O₄ (4.76 and 9.09 wt%) have been developed and well characterized using different techniques like XRD, TEM and IR. The thin film coating of silica on Fe₃O₄ could be detected by IR and TEM. The ferroelectric, magnetic and magneto-capacitive measurements at room temperature confirm the multiferroic nature of the composite films with significant magneto-electric coupling between Fe₃O₄ and PVDF.