Study of structure and composition on La0.7Ba0.25Nd0.05Mn1-x Cu x O3(x = 0, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.07) prepared by sol-gel method

In this work, we have investigated the effect of Cu substitution on structural and chemical composition of La0.7Ba0.25Nd0.05Mn1-xCuxO3 (x = 0, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.07) synthesized by sol-gel method. The samples were sintered at 700 °C for 24 hours. Analysis of X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) patterns revealed that the samples are in cubic structure with space group Pm-3m. The result of Rietveld refinements showed that the increasing Cu doping influences the lattice parameter, unit cell volume and d. Goldschmidt’s tolerance factor was calculated and confirmed that cubic is the most stable structure. The average crystallite size (D) was determined by applying the Scherrer’s equation, indicating the sample in nanocrystalline. Their crystallite sizes are 17.9981, 18.5809, l5.9273 and 16.9486 nm for x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.07, respectively. The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) revealed a spectrum of Cu which means Cu has successfully substituted the Mn site. There is no significant difference between the designated and measured composition.