Sm/Ti co-substituted bismuth ferrite multiferroics: reciprocity between tetragonality and piezoelectricityElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Tables SI-SIII. See DOI: 10.1039/c7cp01849e

BiFeO 3 (BFO) systems co-modified with Ti, Sm and Sm-Ti have been investigated for piezoelectricity together with dielectric and multiferroic properties. Structural studies revealed the coexistence of orthorhombic and rhombohedral ( R 3 c ) phases for x > 0.12. Impurity phases were shown to have hardly any effect on the remanent magnetization, which rather depends on the Fe-O-Fe bond angle. The dielectric loss was reduced considerably by substitution. A correlation between the piezoelectric coefficient and tetragonality was observed in these samples. BFO co-substituted with Sm-Ti exhibited a high piezoelectric coefficient with better ferroic properties, which revealed a unique combination of green piezoelectricity and multiferroicity. BiFeO 3 (BFO) systems co-modified with Ti, Sm and Sm-Ti have been investigated for piezoelectricity together with dielectric and multiferroic properties.