One-step hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and magnetic properties of orthorhombic PrCrO{sub 3} cubic particles

Highlights: • Orthorhombic PrCrO{sub 3} cubic particles were prepared by a simple and facile one-step hydrothermal method. • The possible formation mechanism of PrCrO{sub 3} cubic particles was proposed. • The as-synthesized PrCrO{sub 3} exhibited behaviors of magnetic transition and negative magnetization. - Abstract: Orthorhombic PrCrO{sub 3} cubic particles were synthesized by a simple and facile one-step hydrothermal method of processing temperature 280 °C for 7 days. The products prepared in this paper have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The magnetic properties of the final sample are also studied. The XRD pattern shows the pure orthorhombic phase for PrCrO{sub 3} particles, the XPS and FTIR results further demonstrate the purity and composition of the product. FESEM images show cubic morphology for the PrCrO{sub 3} particles. The possible growth mechanism for PrCrO{sub 3} cubic particles is proposed. Through the investigation of magnetic properties, it can be seen that the orthorhombic PrCrO{sub 3} cubic particles exhibit behaviors of magnetic transition and negative magnetization. The Néel temperature is about 232 K and the magnetic hysteresis loop under 4 K shows that the coercivity (H{sub C}) and remanence (M{sub r}) is about 1728 Oe and 4.88 emu/g, respectively.