Efficient magneto-electric coupling and electro-optic Kerr effect in tri-phasic composites for next generation energy solutions

The magnetoelectric coupling between ferroelectric and ferro/ferrimagnetic phases plays a crucial role in tailoring the energy storage characteristics of materials. To develop efficient energy storage systems, modified sol-gel auto-combustion and solid-state reaction routes were used to synthesize individual phases and subsequently, tri-phasic composites were formed using a mini ball mill. The crystalline phases were identified using diffraction data and a high-resolution electron microscope revealed homogenously distributed spherical grains. Ferroelectric analysis indicated the composition 0.1BiFeO3 + 0.3BaTiO3 + 0.6NdMnO3 as the optimal candidate, exhibiting high retentivity (1.39092E-4 mu C/cm2), maximum polarization (3.69236E-4 mu C/cm2), significant recoverable energy density (0.11507 mJ/cm3) and remarkable ferroelectric efficiency (62.32 %) among the tested compositions. An approximate non-linear correlation between the applied electric field and dielectric constant derived from ferroelectric hysteresis data, supported a phenomenological analysis of the electro-optic Kerr effect using Python-based modelling. Moreover, vibrating sample magnetometer demonstrated the highest remanent and coercivity in above-mentioned composition. In addition, the magnetoelectric coupling analysis confirmed a linear dependence between the magnetic field and polarization (-6.0 x 10- 2 Cm- 2G- 1), proposing them as an optimal alternative for energy retention reservoirs.