Study of divalent elements (Mg, Sr and Ba)-doped LaMnO3 nano-manganites

Abstract

Doping of group-II divalent cations in LaMnO3 can produce advanced multi-functionalities in these nano-manganite materials according to recent theoretical approaches. An experimental investigation of Mg, Sr and Ba-doped LaMnO3 nano-structures has been made by synthesizing these compositions with fuel agent assistive sol–gel auto-combustion technique. Detailed structural studies were carried out for crystal structure, lattice parameters, crystallite size, density and strain in structure using the data obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD). Structural parameters were largely affected and significantly varied in all compositions due to doping of group-II elements with different sized ionic radii. Morphological and compositional analyzes were carried out using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. Electrical and magnetic properties were explored using four-point probe and physical property measurement setups and observed a significant change in various compositions. The substitution of group-II atoms with different sized ionic radii on the regular sites in structure provides a distinctive behavior in various properties.