Influence of Synthetic Conditions on the Crystal Structure, Optical and Magnetic Properties of o-EuFeO3 Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this paper, powders consisting of o-EuFeO3 nanoparticles were obtained by the co-precipitation method using two different precipitating agents (NH3 and (NH4)2CO3 solutions; corresponding products were denoted as samples S.1 and S.2, respectively) and followed by annealing for 1 h at 750, 850, and 950 °C. The magnetic, optical, and physicochemical characteristics of S.1 and S.2 were evaluated by means of EDXS (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), PXRD (powder X-ray diffraction), TG/DSC (thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry), FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), UV-Vis DRS (Ultraviolet–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy), and VSM (vibrating-sample magnetometry). The o-EuFeO3 structure was shown to be stable at annealed temperatures, and t = 850 °C is recommended for synthesizing such substances. The average size of o-EuFeO3 crystals is around 27 (S.1) and 34 nm (S.2). The results revealed a homogeneous distribution of the main elements on the samples’ surfaces, with morphology consisting of isometric and highly agglomerated nanoparticles. The bandgap value (Eg) of the synthesized samples was 2.31 (S.1) and 2.39 eV (S.2). Besides, these nanoparticles appeared to possess paramagnetic behavior.