Study of structural, magnetic, and ferroelectric properties of cerium doped bismuth ferrite electrospun nanofibers

Abstract This investigation focuses on the role of cerium(Ce) incorporation in modifying the structural features as well as the magnetic and ferroelectric responses of BiFeO 3 (BFO) nanofibers fabricated using electrospinning. The XRD results confirmed that the Ce-substituted BFO nanofibers retain a distorted rhombohedral perovskite structure (space group R 3 ¯ c). Field emission scanning electron microscope analysis revealed that Ce incorporation reduces the nanofiber diameter, while crystallinity of the nanofibers was verified by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements showed the oxidation states of the Ce-doped fibers. Magnetic characterization demonstrated a progressive improvement in magnetic properties with increasing Ce content, reaching an optimum at 10% Ce doping, which yielded a magnetic saturation of 2.85 emu g −1 . Ferroelectric testing further revealed improved polarization at 10% Ce doping, with a saturation polarization of 0.528 μC cm −2 . Overall, these results highlight Ce-doped BFO nanofibers are viable options for applications involving next-generation multiferroic memory devices.