Structural and Electrical Properties of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 /α-Fe2O3 Composites

Colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) materials have huge potential in modern application and it has been widely used in magnetic sensing industry. From the literature, an incorporation of secondary insulating phase into mixed-valence manganites could improve its extrinsic effect especially low-field magnetoresistance (LFMR). However, nanoparticle addition could lead to substitution and diffusion with its parent compound. In this work, the structural and electrical properties of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) were investigated by adding the α-Fe2O3 nanoparticle with ratio of 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 as the artificial grain boundaries. The LCMO compound has been synthesised using sol-gel route. The samples were chosen to sinter at 800°C to obtain the pure LCMO phase by referring to the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The structural properties were investigated by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) while electrical properties were measured by a four-point probe (4PP) system. XRD patterns showed the coexistence of two phases (LCMO & α-Fe2O3). LCMO crystallised in orthorhombic structure with space group Pnma while α-Fe2O3 exhibited in hexagonal form with space group R-3c. As the content of α-Fe2O3 increases, the resistivity of the samples increases drastically. Nevertheless, the addition of iron oxide has no significant effect on the metal-insulator transition temperature (T­MI). From the XRD and 4PP analysis, it can be deduced that the α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles do not react with LCMO compound and successfully formed the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 /α-Fe2O3 composites. The resistivity increases when the nano-sized α-Fe2O3 is added into LCMO nanocomposites due to the insulator nature of α-Fe2O3.

Structural, Magnetic and Magnetotransport Properties of Sol-Gel Synthesized La0.67Ca0.33MnO3:TiO2 Nanocomposite

Colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) materials have been widely studied because of their huge potential in spintronic technology. An introduction of secondary phase to the manganite matrix is able to improve the low field magnetoresistance (LFMR). This method is favoured by recent research works as it requires a lower magnetic field compared to intrinsic magnetoresistance. Structural, magnetic properties and magnetotransport properties of polycrystalline (1-x) La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (LCMO): x TiO2 composites where x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 were investigated in this work. Polycrystalline La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (LCMO) was synthesized via sol-gel method and pre-sintered at 800 °C before appending with nano-sized TiO2. All samples are in LCMO phase having an orthorhombic structure with space group Pnma. The crystal structural parameter is studied by using Rietveld refinement. As TiO2 content increases, the magnetization is getting higher as observed via vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis at room temperature. Magnetotransport properties of the pure LCMO sample have been studied from 80 – 220 K. The LFMR is enhanced as the temperature drops. The results have shown LCMO: TiO2 manganite composite is an excellent candidate for future magnetic sensors and memory devices.

Investigation of Nano-Sized Al2O3 on Pr-Sr-Mn-O Composites: Structural, Microstructural and Magnetic Properties

Perovskite manganites have always been the research interest attributed to its intriguing colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) properties. Incorporation of an insulating secondary phase into the manganite composites has proven as an effective measure to enhance the low field magnetoresistance (LFMR). This paper reports the structural, microstructural and magnetic properties of (1-x) Pr0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (PSMO): x Al2O3 composites synthesized by the solid-state reaction method. Different compositions of nano-sized Al2O3 (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) were appended into the samples to investigate its effect on the physical properties. X-ray diffraction patterns show all samples exhibit polycrystalline PSMO as the major phase and strong orientation along (121) direction throughout the series. The crystal structural parameter is presented by Rietveld refinement. Nano-sized of Al2O3 has distorted the pure PSMO as changes have been observed in bond length and bond angle observed. Surface roughness and particle size show the increment along with increasing Al2O3 composition from the atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis. All samples possess the narrow hysteresis loop with weak ferromagnetic nature. The PSMO: Al2O3 presented in this study is a promising manganite composite which can be utilized in the magnetic sensor applications.