Abstract
Thermally stable perovskite-like SmFeO3 powders were obtained by the co-precipitation method using (NH4)2CO3 as a precipitating agent; their physicochemical, optical, and magnetic properties were characterized to preliminary evaluate their potential applications. It was found that a well-crystallized pure-phase SmFeO3 will be obtained when the calcination temperature (tc) reaches 850°C. The average size of SmFeO3 crystallites was about 45, 55, and 64 nm for the SmFeO3-750, -850, and -950 samples, respectively. The orthorhombic structure was distorted, as evidenced by the varied unit cell volume (from 233.35·10−3 to 233.07·10−3 nm3) and microstrain (from 2.02·10−3 to 0.009·10−3) in dependence on tc (from 750 to 950°C), respectively. The synthesized SmFeO3 samples exhibited paramagnetic properties, with the coercive field (Hc) in the range of 250–750 Oe. Moreover, the obtained materials have direct bandgap energies with values below 3.06 eV.
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