Yttrium incorporated BiFeO3 nanostructures growth on two step anodized Al2O3 porous template for energy storage applications.

Porous anodic aluminum oxide templates with average pore size of approximately 100 nm were synthesized by two step anodization processes. Pure and Yttrium substituted BiFeO3 nano-structures with different concentrations were hydrothermally grown on anodic aluminum oxide templates to explore its various physical properties. X-ray diffraction was employed to extract the crystallographic information revealed the formation of rhombohedral geometry with R-3c space group. Field emission scanning electron microscopy displayed the filling up of pores with growth of distorted diamond and flakes like BiFeO 3 and Yttria enriched nanostructures, respectively. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was confirmed the presence of expected elemental contents in each template. UV–Vis spectrophotometry recorded a significant increment in optical absorption of AAO template with growth of nanostructures. The value of optical band gap was found to decrease from 2.49 eV to 2.02 eV with incorporation of metallic yttrium content. Dielectric permittivity was found to increase substantially from 19 to 159 in Yttria containing nano-flakes with comparatively low loss factor of 0.84 disclosed these templates as prominent candidate for energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]