Improvement of magnetoelectric coupling effect in Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3-Co0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 multiferroic fluids by tuning the composition

Ba_0.8Sr_0.2TiO₃ (BST) and Cu_0.5Co_0.5Fe₂O₄ (CCFO) nanopowders were prepared by hydrothermal method and chemical coprecipitation, respectively. Barium strontium titanate nanopowder–nano mixed oxides containing copper, cobalt, and iron (BST-CCFO) multiferroic fluids with different mass ratios (m_BST/m_CCFO = 1:2, 1:1, and 2:1) were prepared by using dimethyl silicone oil and silane coupling agent. Effect of mass ratio on the magnetoelectric performance was comparatively investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the BST and CCFO powders had no secondary phases, which are tetragonal perovskite structure and cubic spinel structure, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the average grain size of BST and CCFO was 26.34 nm and 26.82 nm, respectively. The agglomeration of BST nanopowder was serious. Under the external magnetic field, the BST-CCFO multiferroic fluid will form a chain structure due to the directional movement of magnetic particles, thus enhancing the dielectric properties and ferroelectric properties of multiferroic fluid. The chain structure under the action of magnetic field will change the motion of ferroelectric particles, so that the magnetoelectric coupling effect of multiferroic fluid is significantly enhanced, which is much higher than that of the same type of magnetoelectric composite ceramics. This study is expected to provide a new way to improve the magnetoelectric coupling effect of multiferroic materials.