Preparation of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric nanocomposites using the colloidal templating method

We have prepared nano-composite materials that are composed of ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric (FE) compounds using the colloidal templating technique. By using polymethyl methacrylate colloidal crystals as templates, first we prepared highly ordered macroporous FM perovskite manganite with a composition of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) by removing the polymer templates. Various FM/FE nanocomposite materials were manufactured by infiltrating compounds with FE properties such as BaTiO3, PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3, and Bi4Ti3O12 into the void regions of the macroporous LCMO parent framework, followed by sintering the infiltrated materials at high temperature. The SEM images exhibit clear filling of the FE materials into the voids but the magnetization data reveal that the volume fractions of the FE components are in the range of 33–42%. This is largely due to the evaporation of organic moieties included in the precursor materials after sintering.