Structural, magnetic, and optical properties of perovskite-like SmFeO ₃ nanoparticles obtained from the co-precipitation method

Thermally stable perovskite-like SmFeO 3 powders were obtained by the co-precipitation method using (NH 4 ) 2 CO 3 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 SmFeO 3 will be obtained when the calcination temperature ( t c ) reaches 850°C. The average size of SmFeO 3 crystallites was about 45, 55, and 64 nm for the SmFeO 3 -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 nm 3 ) and microstrain (from 2.02·10 −3 to 0.009·10 −3 ) in dependence on t c (from 750 to 950°C), respectively. The synthesized SmFeO 3 samples exhibited paramagnetic properties, with the coercive field ( H c ) in the range of 250–750 Oe. Moreover, the obtained materials have direct bandgap energies with values below 3.06 eV.