Research Projects

Sustainable energy harvesting and flexible electronics require multiferroic materials with strong magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature. Although new ME-mechanisms and materials have been observed in the last three decades, ME-materials with strong ME susceptibility (?) at room temperature are still rare. Co2Z hexaferrites and Co2Y hexaferrites exhibit considerable ? at room temperature, but their ? is too low for practical applications. These observations of large ?-values in hexaferrite films are significant for their potential impact on modern technologies, from energy harvesting to biomedicine. One fundamental goal of this work is to further improve the value of ? and electric polarization (P) in Co2Z- and Co2Y-type hexaferrites through materials engineering vis flexible nanocomposite. By synthesis of smaller size nanoparticles and oxygen annealing in nanoscale particles, we can enhance ? and P. One main problem scientists face when measuring ? is the large leakage current in multiferroic-nanoparticles. Incorporating nanoparticles into a ferroelectric host polymer will solve this problem, improve ? and P, and give flexibility to films developed using low-cost methods. The piezoelectric stress magnetostriction effect can be easily enhanced by embedding it in a ferroelectric polymer. The synthesis of hexaferrite polymer nanocomposite materials and films will lead to a great improvement in ? & P and pave the way for their application in flexible electronics and energy harvesting markets. Commercial devices for measuring ME susceptibility are expensive, so researchers plan to design and develop a highly sensitive ME susceptometer for scientific research at the University Of Kashmir, Jammu & Kashmir.