Sol-gel synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline praseodymium orthoferrite

Abstract

In this work, nano-sized crystalline praseodymium orthoferrite was successfully synthesized via sol-gel method using water - methanol co-solvent. Single-phase PrFeO3 nanoparticles were formed after annealing the precursors at 650, 750, 850, and 950 °C during 60 min. The crystal size, lattice volume and coercivity (Hc) of nanocrystalline PrFeO3 increase with the annealing temperature. The obtained praseodymium orthoferrite exhibited paramagnetic properties with Hc = 28 - 34 Oe.