Structural and 57Fe Mössbauer study of EuCr1 − x Fe x O3 nanocrystalline particles

Structural, 57Fe Mössbauer and XPS studies of mechanosynthesized nanocrystalline Nd0.33Eu0.67Fe1-Cr O3 particles

“…Of special interest to us in this work is a previous study on the structural and magnetic properties of mechanosynthesized EuCrxFe1-xO3 (x = 0.0-1.0) nanocrystalline particles in which we reported an unusual Eu 3+ /Cr 3+ -Fe 3+ cationic A-B site exchange (antisite defects), unit cell expansion, enhanced structural distortion and a reduction in TN with increasing Cr 3+ content [1,4,6]. Whilst antisite disorder in perovskite-related solids has been reported to be externally-induced, such as when the solids are radiation-damaged [17], it is interesting to note how the effect was induced by the use of the mechano-synthesis route in EuCrO3 and EuCrxFe1-xO3 [1,4,6]. Intriguingly a magnetocaloric effect augmented by magnetoelectric coupling was reported recently for the isostructural DyFe0.5Cr0.5O3 compound [18].…”

“…The physical and chemical properties of the perovskite-related europium ferrite EuFeO3 and europium chromite EuCrO3 are attractive from an applied viewpoint [1][2][3][4]. For instance the multiferroicity, low temperature canted antiferromagnetism, high dielectric constants, low dielectric losses and the high temperature stability render them potential in applications that include magnetic storage devices, spin switches, multifunctional smart devices, magneto-electric coupling devices, gas sensing devices and solid oxide fuel cells among others [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Both solids crystallize in a distorted orthorhombic crystalline structure (SG: Pbnm; #62) where the rare earth (RE) Eu 3+ cation and the transition metal (TM) cations, respectively, occupy the cuboctahedral (A) and the corner-sharing octahedral (B) sites [1][2][3][4][5].…”

“…For instance the multiferroicity, low temperature canted antiferromagnetism, high dielectric constants, low dielectric losses and the high temperature stability render them potential in applications that include magnetic storage devices, spin switches, multifunctional smart devices, magneto-electric coupling devices, gas sensing devices and solid oxide fuel cells among others [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Both solids crystallize in a distorted orthorhombic crystalline structure (SG: Pbnm; #62) where the rare earth (RE) Eu 3+ cation and the transition metal (TM) cations, respectively, occupy the cuboctahedral (A) and the corner-sharing octahedral (B) sites [1][2][3][4][5]. The Néel temperatures (TN) of these G-type antiferromagnets are  662 K (EuFeO3) and  181K (EuCrO3) [6].…”

“…Among the various TM cations, however, Cr 3+ and Fe 3+ appear to be the most attractive cationic substituents in EuFeO3 and EuCrO3, respectively. This is partially related to the fact that the magnetic superexchange interaction between both cations could be monitored as a function of cationic J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f concentration and the particle size [1,4,9]. Of special interest to us in this work is a previous study on the structural and magnetic properties of mechanosynthesized EuCrxFe1-xO3 (x = 0.0-1.0) nanocrystalline particles in which we reported an unusual Eu 3+ /Cr 3+ -Fe 3+ cationic A-B site exchange (antisite defects), unit cell expansion, enhanced structural distortion and a reduction in TN with increasing Cr 3+ content [1,4,6].…”

“…This is partially related to the fact that the magnetic superexchange interaction between both cations could be monitored as a function of cationic J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f concentration and the particle size [1,4,9]. Of special interest to us in this work is a previous study on the structural and magnetic properties of mechanosynthesized EuCrxFe1-xO3 (x = 0.0-1.0) nanocrystalline particles in which we reported an unusual Eu 3+ /Cr 3+ -Fe 3+ cationic A-B site exchange (antisite defects), unit cell expansion, enhanced structural distortion and a reduction in TN with increasing Cr 3+ content [1,4,6]. Whilst antisite disorder in perovskite-related solids has been reported to be externally-induced, such as when the solids are radiation-damaged [17], it is interesting to note how the effect was induced by the use of the mechano-synthesis route in EuCrO3 and EuCrxFe1-xO3 [1,4,6].…”