Structural, magnetic, and optical properties of perovskite-like SmFeO3 nanoparticles obtained from the co-precipitation method

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 degrees 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<middle dot>10-3 to 233.07<middle dot>10-3 nm3) and microstrain (from 2.02<middle dot>10-3 to 0.009<middle dot>10-3) in dependence on tc (from 750 to 950 degrees 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.