Mössbauer and magnetic studies of the phase state of SrFe12O19/La0.9Ca0.1MnO3 composites

• Published in: Physics of the solid state 2016-04, Vol.58 (4), p.792-803
• Main Authors: Kamzin, A. S., Lampen-Kelley, P., Phan, M. H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Low-Dimensional Systems; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Solid State Physics
• ISSN: 1063-7834; 1090-6460
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063783416040089

The formation of an intermediate phase in SrFe 12 O 19 /La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 composites was demonstrated for the first time using only Mössbauer spectroscopy. The SrFe 12 O 19 /La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 composite was prepared by the two-stage (sol–gel and hydrothermal) synthesis with varying initial conditions. The X-ray diffraction studies showed that the composite consisted of two phases: well-formed structures of manganite La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 and hexagonal ferrite SrFe 12 O 19 . It was found that nanocrystalline La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 particles with size d ≲ 150 nm formed in the composites at the surface of plate-like SrFe 12 O 19 crystallites. The Mössbauer studies showed that the composite contained additional (intermediate) phase La 0.9 Ca 0.1 Mn(Fe)O 3 that formed at the interface between SrFe12O19 and La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 phases. The intermediate phase concentration increased with the molar content of La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 ; in this case, the fraction of the surface of SrFe 12 O 19 crystallites coated with La 0.9 Ca 0.1 MnO 3 increased, which led to the increase in the total area of the interface surface and the intermediate phase concentration.