We report observation of more than an order of magnitude jump in saturation
magnetization in BiFeO3โ/Ag nanocomposite at room temperature compared to
what is observed in bare BiFeO3โ nanoparticles. Using transmission electron
microscopy together with energy dispersive x-ray spectra (which maps the
element concentration across the BiFeO3โ/Ag interface) and x-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy, we show that both the observed specific
self-assembly pattern of BiFeO3โ and Ag nanoparticles and the charge transfer
between Ag and O are responsible for such an enormous rise in room-temperature
magnetization. The BiFeO3โ/Ag nanocomposites, therefore, could prove to be
extremely useful for a variety of applications including biomedical.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Nanotechnolog