(442r) Fabrication and Characterization of Nanostructured Ce2NiMnO6 By Solution Combustion Synthesis

The R₂NiMnO₆ systems (where R= Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd) refer to the rare-earth double perovskite oxides [1]. There is a major challenge to fabricate these materials in nano-crystalline forms due to particle conglomeration during nucleation and synthesis. In this report we present size dependent magnetic properties and reaction characterization of Ce₂NiMnO₆ nanoparticles that were produced by using Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) [2]. For the synthesis procedure, we used Ce(NO₃)₃6H₂O, Ni(NO₃)₃9H₂O, Mn(NO₃)₂4H₂O and glycine NH₂CH₂COOH as fuel, that were dissolved in distilled water. The mixture was gradually vaporized during heating at 250°C. The produced soft foam was ignited and a light brown fluffy product was generated. The molar ratio of Ce(NO₃)₃6H₂O/Ni(NO₃)₃6H₂O/Mn(NO₃)₂4H₂O was 2:1:1, and the glycine was 3, 6 and 10 wt. % in the mixture.  The combustion reaction between fuel and oxygen-containing species provides conditions for rapid high-temperature interaction between metal atoms. The combustion reaction inhibits particle size growth and synthesis of nanosized powders with a high specific surface area. The adjusting the glycine/metal nitrates ratio can selectively control the crystallite size and magneto dielectric properties of the rare-earth double perovskite oxides. The particles morphology of as-synthesized Ce₂NiMnO₆particles was analyzed by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) that confirms average particles size of about 40 nm without the agglomerates. All combustion products were friable, and had a spongy porous structure with porosity of up to 70 %. Concentration of residual carbon was lower than 1 wt. %. Analysis of the irreversible field-cooled (FC) and the zero-field-cooled (ZFC) magnetic susceptibilities confirms that particles exhibit superparamagnetic properties.

We acknowledge the financial support of this research by the Committee of Science at Ministry of Education and Science Republic of Kazakhstan grant № 757.МОН.ГФ.15.РИПР.8 and by the National Science Foundation Grant HRD-1242090.

References

1. R.J. Bootha, et all, An investigation of structural, magnetic and dielectric properties of R₂NiMnO₆ (R = rare earth, Y), Materials Research Bulletin, 44, 7, 1, 1559–1564, 2009.
2. K.S. Martirosyan, and A.S. Mukasyan, Combustion Synthesis of Nanomaterials, In Dekker Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Third Edition. CRC Press: New York, 983–1001, 2014.