Magnetic properties of new (1−x)Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3+xBaNiO3−δ solid solution materials

New solid solution (1−x)Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3+xBaNiO3−δ materials were synthesized by a chemical method. The X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering structure studies confirmed that the BaNiO3−δ materials were well soluted in the host Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3 materials. The random incorporation of Ba and Ni into the host Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3 materials was displayed by the optical properties where the optical bandgap values were reduced, and the photoluminescence was suppressed. The complex magnetic properties of Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3 materials were obtained as a function of BaNiO3−δ amounts in the solid solutions. The role of co-modification of A- and B-sites via alkaline earth metals and transition metals as substitution and interstitially on magnetic properties of Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3 materials was experimentally proposed, which is further supported by first-principles density functional theory calculations. We expected that our work provided a new method to inject the ferromagnetic properties in lead-free ferroelectric materials for smart electronic applications.