Inorganic–organic multiferroic hybrid films of Fe3O4 and PVDF with significant magneto-dielectric coupling

Flexible and self-standing inorganic-organic hybrid films of silica coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer with significant magneto-dielectric coupling have been prepared at low temperature by a simple solvent casting method. PVDF films with two different concentrations of silica coated Fe3O4 (4.76 and 9.09 wt%) have been developed and well characterized using different techniques like XRD, TEM and IR. The thin film coating of silica on Fe3O4 could be detected by IR and TEM. The ferroelectric, magnetic and magneto-capacitive measurements at room temperature confirm the multiferroic nature of the composite films with significant magneto-electric coupling between Fe3O4 and PVDF.