Structural, electrical, thermal and optical properties of YFeO3, prepared by SSR and Sol-Gel route: a comparative study

Polycrystalline ceramic samples of yttrium ferrite (YFeO3) have been prepared by solid state reaction (SSR) and sol-gel methods. X-ray analysis confirmed single-phase orthorhombic structure with space group Pnma. The lattice parameters obtained from Rietveld refinement for both the samples are almost the same. The particle size (D) obtained for the sample synthesized through SSR is 0.101m whereas the same obtained through sol-gel method is 0.053m. The resolution of surface morphology obtained from Atomic force microscopy (AFM) for SSR sample is better than that of the Sol-Gel sample. DC conductivity measurement for both the samples shows semiconducting behaviour with activation energies 2.12eV for SSR and 2.18eV for sample prepared by sol-gel route. Thermal analysis (DTA/DSC) curves show diffused phase transition around (625-630K) in both cases with very low weight loss (similar to 2%) from room temperature up to 1173K. Room temperature FT-IR spectra show absorption peak in between 600 and 400cm(-1). Comparative studies indicate that the sample obtained through sol-gel route shows better characteristics than SSR route sample.