Ultrafine MnWO4 nanoparticles and their magnetic properties

Abstract Ultrafine nanoparticles of MnWO4, a compound showing low-temperature multiferroicity in the bulk, were synthesized by the polyol method. Studies using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, differential sedimentation and sorption techniques show the formation of a single-phase material, which is composed of MnWO4 nanoparticles with a prolate ellipsoidal shape (short axis of 4–5 nm, long axis of 11–12 nm) and an unprecedented high specific surface area of 166 m2 g−1. The as-prepared MnWO4 nanoparticles are readily crystalline after the liquid-phase synthesis. Temperature and field dependent magnetization measurements indica…