Mild Hydrothermal Crystallization of Heavy Rare-Earth Chromite RECrO3 (RE = Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) Perovskites and Magnetic Properties

New insights into the magnetism and magnetic structure of LuCrO3 perovskite

A polycrystalline sample LuCrO3 has been characterized by neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and magnetization measurements. Its crystal structure has been Rietveld refined from NPD data in space group Pnma; this perovskite contains strongly tilted CrO6 octahedra with extremely bent Cr-O-Cr superexchange angles of ∼142°. The NPD data show that below Néel temperature (TN ≃ 131 K), the magnetic structure can be defined as an A-type antiferromagnetic arrangement of Cr3+ magnetic moments, aligned along the b axis, with a canting along the c axis. A noticeable magnetostrictive effect is observed in the unit-cell parameters and volume upon cooling down across TN. The AC magnetic susceptibility indicates the onset of magnetic ordering below 112.6 K; the magnetization isotherms below TN show a nonlinear behaviour that is associated with the described canting of the Cr3+ magnetic moments. From the Curie-Weiss law, the effective moment of the Cr3+ sublattice is found to be μeff = 3.55 μB (calculated 3.7 μB) while the ΘCW parameter yields a value of -155 K, indicating antiferromagnetic interactions. There is a conspicuous increase of TN upon the application of external pressure, which must be due to shortening of the Cr-O bond length under compression that increases the orbital overlap integral.

Effect of Ce substitution on the local magnetic ordering and phonon instabilities in antiferromagnetic DyCrO3perovskites

A detailed crystal structure analysis, temperature and field dependence of magnetic characteristics and phonon instabilities for different compositions (0.1 ⩽x⩽ 0.5) of Dy_1-xCe_xCrO₃solid-solutions have been reported. All the investigated compounds exhibit distorted orthorhombic crystal structure with a distortion factor ofd_Oct/d_Cell∼ 6 × 10^-3/3.5 ppm (forx∼ 0.2) forPbnmspace group that follows Vegard's law. The bonds between apical oxygen atoms (O_A1) and Cr atoms stand more rigidly in comparison with the basal oxygen atoms (O_B1/O_B2) resulting the octahedral distortion and thereby causing the changes in phonon modes. The CrO₆octahedral tilt angleθrotates with respect to the Miller pseudocubic axis [101] which varies from 10.36° (x= 0.1) to 12.25° (x= 0.5) and significantly influences the A_g(5) phonon stability by 3% for a change in A-site mean radius from 1.095 Å to 1.141 Å forx= 0.1 and 0.5, respectively. From the magnetization measurements we find that these series of compositions exhibit canted antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering with Néel temperature,TN1that increases from 151.8 K (x= 0.1) to 162 K (x= 0.5) which also manifests as a significant reduction in the magneto-crystalline anisotropy (H_K∼ 2.58 kOe → 2.07 kOe,K₁∼ 36.47 J m^-3→ 18.97 J m^-3) while maintaining the stable Γ₄(G_x,A_y,F_z) AFM configuration. Both Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction method and modified Curie-Weiss law are employed to analyse the inverse paramagnetic susceptibility,χ^-1(T>TN1). Further, we have evaluated the symmetric (J_S) and antisymmetric exchange (D_AS) constants, which show progressively increasing trend (J_S→ 10.08 K to 11.18 K andD_AS→ 1.24 K to 1.73 K) with the incorporation of Ce inside the perovskite lattice. Furthermore, the role of Ce substitution on the low-temperature spin reorientation transition (T_SR∼ 3.5 K → 16.8 K pertaining to the Γ₂₅phase configuration) and emergence ofΓ2(Fx,Cy,Gz;FxR,CyR)weak-FM phase between 31 K and 45.5 K are discussed in consonance with the phonon spectra.

Oxygen vacancy mediated room-temperature ferromagnetism and band gap narrowing in DyFe0.5Cr0.5O3 nanoparticles

We report on the magnetic and optical properties of DyFe0.5Cr0.5O3 nanoparticles synthesized by a sol-gel method. Rietveld refinement of a powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirms the formation of an orthorhombic disordered phase with the Pnma space group. The formation of nano-sized particles, with an average size of 42(±12) nm, was approximated by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image analysis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of this compound reveals the presence of Fe2+/Fe3+ and Cr2+/Cr3+ mixed-valence states as a consequence of oxygen vacancies present at the surface of nanoparticles. The temperature-dependent magnetization (M-T) shows a finite non-zero magnetization up to 300 K and the field-dependent magnetization (M-H) curve exhibits a weak ferromagnetic (WFM) nature at 300 K with a clear hysteresis loop, which is quite appealing compared to that of the previously reported micron-sized DyFe0.5Cr0.5O3. These observations indicate that the large concentration of uncompensated surface spin of nanoparticles could be responsible for the observed room-temperature ferromagnetism. Moreover, DyFe0.5Cr0.5O3 nanoparticles show a significantly narrow band gap (Eg ∼ 2.0 eV). Meanwhile, the oxygen vacancies may generate shallow trap energy levels within the band gap as observed from photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The observed band gap narrowing by Fe doping and the effect of oxygen vacancies on the band gap are consistent with the predictions of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The evidence of room-temperature ferromagnetism in DyFe0.5Cr0.5O3 nanoparticles compared to their bulk counterparts and the significantly narrow band gap in the visible range manifest the potential of this material in spintronic and optical applications.

Non-collinear magnetism & multiferroicity: the perovskite case

The most important types of non-collinear magnetic orders that are realized in simple perovskite oxides are outlined in relation to multiferroicity. These orders are classified and rationalized in terms of a mimimal spin Hamiltonian, based on which the notion of spin-driven ferroelectricity is illustrated. These concepts find direct application in reference materials such as BiFeO3, GdFeO3 and TbMnO3 whose multiferroic properties are briefly reviewed.

Pourbaix-Guided Mineralization and Site-Selective Photoluminescence Properties of Rare Earth Substituted B-Type Carbonated Hydroxyapatite Nanocrystals

Rare-earth labeling in biological apatite could provide critical information for the pathologic transition (osteoclastic) and physiologic regeneration (osteogenesis) of bone and teeth because of their characteristic site-sensitive fluorescence in different coordinative conditions of various tissues in many biological processes. However, the rare-earth labeling method for biological apatites, i.e., carbonated-hydroxyapatite, has been rarely found in the literature. In this paper, we report a Pourbaix-diagram guided mineralizing strategy to controllable carbonation and doping of rare-earth ions in the hydroxyapatite (HA) lattice. The carbonation process of hydroxyapatite was achieved by controllable mineralization in hydrothermal condition with K₂CO₃ as the carbonate source, which results into the pure B-type carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA) with tunable carbonate substitution degree. All of the as-synthesized materials crystalized into P63/m (No. 176) space group with the lattice parameter of a decreases and c increases with the increasing of carbonate content in the reactants. Structural refinement results revealed that the substitution of planar CO₃²⁻ is superimposed on one of the faces of PO₄³⁻ tetrahedral sub-units with a rotation angle of 30° in reference to c-axis. All of the hydrothermally synthesized CHA nanocrystals show hexagonal rod-like morphology with the length of 70–110 nm and diameter of 21–35 nm, and the decreasing length/diameter ratio from 3.61 to 2.96 from low to high carbonated level of the samples. Five rare-earth cations, of Pr³⁺, Sm³⁺, Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, and Ho³⁺, were used as possible probe ions that can be doped into either HA or CHA lattice. The site-preference of Tb³⁺ doping is the same in the crystallographic site of HA and CHA according to characteristic emission peaks of ⁵D₄–⁷F_j (j = 3–6) transitions in their photoluminescent spectroscopy. Our work provides a controllable carbonation method for rare-earth labeling hydroxyapatite nanomaterials with potential biologically active implant powders for bone repair and tissue regeneration.

Perovskite Oxides Prepared by Hydrothermal and Solvothermal Synthesis: A Review of Crystallisation, Chemistry, and Compositions

Perovskite oxides with general composition ABO₃ are a large group of inorganic materials that can contain a variety of cations from all parts of the Periodic Table and that have diverse properties of application in fields ranging from electronics, energy storage to photocatalysis. Solvothermal synthesis routes to these materials have become increasingly investigated in the past decade as a means of direct crystallisation of the solids from solution. These methods have significant advantages leading to adjustment of crystal form from the nanoscale to the micron-scale, the isolation of compositions not possible using conventional solid-state synthesis and in addition may lead to scalable processes for producing materials at moderate temperatures. These aspects are reviewed, with examples taken from the past decade's literature on the solvothermal synthesis of perovskites with a systematic survey of B-site cations, from transition metals in Groups 4-8 and main group elements in Groups 13, 14 and 15, to solid solutions and heterostructures. As well as hydrothermal reactions, the use of various solvents and solution additives are discussed and some trends identified, along with prospects for developing control and predictability in the crystallisation of complex oxide materials.

Rare-earth-containing perovskite nanomaterials: design, synthesis, properties and applications

As star material, perovskites have been widely used in the fields of optics, photovoltaics, electronics, magnetics, catalysis, sensing, etc. However, some inherent shortcomings, such as low efficiency (power conversion efficiency, external quantum efficiency, etc.) and poor stability (against water, oxygen, ultraviolet light, etc.), limit their practical applications. Downsizing the materials into nanostructures and incorporating rare earth (RE) ions are effective means to improve their properties and broaden their applications. This review will systematically summarize the key points in the design, synthesis, property improvements and application expansion of RE-containing (including both RE-based and RE-doped) halide and oxide perovskite nanomaterials (PNMs). The critical factors of incorporating RE elements into different perovskite structures and the rational design of functional materials will be discussed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of different synthesis methods for PNMs will be reviewed. This paper will also summarize some practical experiences in selecting suitable RE elements and designing multi-functional materials according to the mechanisms and principles of REs promoting the properties of perovskites. At the end of this review, we will provide an outlook on the opportunities and challenges of RE-containing PNMs in various fields.