Synthesis and physicochemical studies of perovskite manganite La0.8Ca0.2Nn1 xCoxO3(0?x?0.3)

Abstract

The physicochemical properties of La0.8Ca0.2Mn1xCoxO nanopowders as a function of Co content (x) have been investigated. La0.8Ca0.2Mn1xCoxO nanopowders were synthesized by sol-gel method and morphologically and structurally well characterized by Scanning electron microscopic (SEM), Infrared spectroscopic (IR) and Raman spectroscopic techniques. IR spectra shows peak at around 600 cm1 attributed to the stretching mode of MnO6 octahedral and peak at 700 cm1 assigned to La-Ca-O-Mn bending vibrations. Raman spectra indicate peaks at around 512 and 652 cm?1 related to the Jahn-Teller octahedral distortions. The intensity of these peaks increases with increasing Co doping. The UV-visible spectra were measured in the frequency range of 200-800 nm and two energy gaps were found at 1.63 eV and 3.294 eV for x = 0, 0.1 and 0.3.