The crystallization of a new series of A-site substituted
lanthanum
ferrite materials (La
1–
x
RE
x
)FeO
3
was explored by the hydrothermal
method at 240 °C, for rare earth (RE) = Nd, Sm, Gd, Ho, Er, Yb,
and Y, with 0 ≤
x
≤ 1. The effect of
elemental substitution on the morphological, structural, and magnetic
properties of the materials was studied using high-resolution powder
X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) on the scanning
electron microscope, Raman spectroscopy, and SQUID magnetometry. If
the radius of the La
3+
and the substituent ions is similar,
such as for Nd
3+
, Sm
3+
, and Gd
3+
,
homogeneous solid solutions are formed, with the orthorhombic GdFeO
3
-type structure, and a continuous evolution of Raman spectra
with composition and distinct magnetic behavior from the end members.
When the radius difference between substituents and La
3+
is large, such as for Ho
3+
, Er
3+
, Yb
3+
, and Y
3+
, then instead of forming solid solutions, crystallization
in separate phases is found. However, low levels of element mixing
are found and intergrowths of segregated regions give composite particles.
In this case, the Raman spectra and magnetic behavior are characteristic
of mixtures of phases, while EDS shows distinctive elemental segregation.
A-site replacement induces an evolution in the crystallite shape with
an increasing amount of substituent ions and this is most evident
for RE = Y from cube-shaped crystals seen for LaFeO
3
to
multipodal crystals for (La
1–
x
Y
x
)FeO
3
, providing evidence for
a phase-separation-driven evolution of morphology.