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The features of the structural, transport and magnetic properties of thin Zn1-xCoxOy films (x=0-0.45), fabricated on С-sapphire substrates by the pulsed laser deposition method are studied. It is found that the transport and ferromagnetic properties of the wurtzite Zn1-xCoxOy films nonmonotonously depend on Co concentration at room temperature. For the Zn0.87Co0.13Oy film, the strongest ferromagnetic signal is observed that is caused by formation of the greatest number of metallic Co clusters. A further increase of doping impurity concentration in the films leads to the oxidation of metallic Co and formation of the paramagnetic Co3O4 phase, in consequence of which the ferromagnetic signal subsides.

New composite materials consisting of polymer matrix with PZT and NdFeB microparticles were prepared and investigated in the work. It was found that magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization, coercivity, permeability, depend on mass concentration of the ferromagnetic particles in the samples. Also it was found that all samples had electrical polarization in DC external electric field. The electric properties such as coercivity, remanent polarization, the maximum polarization value, had changes in the external constant magnetic field 1.1 kOe. These changes depended on both concentrations of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric particles. This type of magnetoelectric transformation allows us to classify new materials as multiferroic materials. These new composite materials can easily be prepared of any shape, the final materials are flexible and resistant to external chemical influences. The area of application of new multiferroic materials varies from sensors to autonomous energy sources.

Polymer-based multiferroics, combining magnetic and piezoelectric properties, are studied experimentally—from synthesis to multi-parameter characterization—in view of their prospects for fabricating biocompatible scaffolds. The main advantage of these systems is facile generation of mechanical deformations and electric signals in response to external magnetic fields. Herein, we address the composites based on PVDF-TrFE polymer matrices filled with a combination of piezoelectric (BaTiO3, BTO) and/or ferrimagnetic (Zn0.25Co0.75Fe2O4, ZCFO) particles. It is shown that the presence of BTO micron-size particles favors stripe-type structuring of the ZCFO filler and enhances the magnetoelectric response of the sample up to 18.6 mV/(cm∙Oe). Besides that, the admixing of BTO particles is crucial because the mechanical properties of the composite filled with only ZCFO is much less efficient in transforming magnetic excitations into the mechanical and electric responses. Attention is focused on the local surfacial mechanical properties since those, to a great extent, determine the fate of stem cells cultivated on these surfaces. The nano-indentation tests are accomplished with the aid of scanning probe microscopy technique. With their proven suitable mechanical properties, a high level of magnetoelectric conversion and also biocompatibility, the composites of the considered type are enticing as the materials for multiferroic-based polymer scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiferroics are materials that electrically polarize when subjected to a magnetic field and magnetize under the action of an electric field. In composites, the multiferroic effect is achieved by mixing of ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric (FE) particles. The FM particles are prone to magnetostriction (field-induced deformation), whereas the FE particles display piezoelectricity (electrically polarize under mechanical stress). In solid composites, where the FM and FE grains are in tight contact, the combination of these effects directly leads to multiferroic behavior. In the present work, we considered the FM/FE composites with soft polymer bases, where the particles of alternative kinds are remote from one another. In these systems, the multiferroic coupling is different and more complicated in comparison with the solid ones as it is essentially mediated by an electromagnetically neutral matrix. When either of the fields, magnetic or electric, acts on the 'akin' particles (FM or FE) it causes their displacement and by that perturbs the particle elastic environments. The induced mechanical stresses spread over the matrix and inevitably affect the particles of an alternative kind. Therefore, magnetization causes an electric response (due to the piezoeffect in FE) whereas electric polarization might entail a magnetic response (due to the magnetostriction effect in FM). A numerical model accounting for the multiferroic behavior of a polymer composite of the above-described type is proposed and confirmed experimentally on a polymer-based dispersion of iron and lead zirconate micron-size particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetoactive elastomers (MAEs) on the basis of a silicone matrix filled with carbonyl iron microparticles are developed for an envisaged application in eye surgery for treatment of complicated retinal detachments. The proposed magnetic fixator of an eye retina consists of an MAE seal placed inside an eye in the area of a retinal break, and an external silicone sponge with embedded permanent magnets which can be sutured to the sclera to provide magnetic field acting on the internal MAE seal. For MAE seal development, MAEs of various compositions (containing 52–76 mass% of ferromagnetic iron microparticles) are synthesized and their surface, magnetic, mechanical, and rheological properties are investigated in external magnetic fields. To demonstrate MAEs efficacy as an element of the retina magnetic fixator, magnetic forces acting between MAE samples and systems of permanent magnets were measured in the curved configuration corresponding to the human eye geometry. It has been demonstrated that the pressure produced within the fixator can be varied in a wide range by tuning the MAE composition and MAE seal dimensions as well as by optimizing the size and configuration of permanent magnets within the external silicone sponge. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47425. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]