Magnetic Properties Of Fibrous Fe-Al-O Prepared By Electrospinning

Recently, we obtained a new Fe-Al-O fibrous material by applying the novel route of electrospinning. Here we report on the properties of the as prepared material established by PPMS magnetometry and X-ray diffraction. X-ray diffractograms revealed the coexistence of the orthorhombic multiferroic phase FeAlO3 along with traces of unreacted impurities. The structure of the FeAlO3 phase is described in the orthorhombic Pna2(1) space group and is of great current interest since the compound features piezoelectricity, ferrimagnetism and magnetoelectric effects at low temperatures. In contrast to known bulk material obtained by classical routes the new fibrous material shows a lower value of saturation magnetization and the magnetic transition occurs at a much lower temperature. In the discussion an attempt is made to disclose the reasons for the observed differences.