Structural, morphological, optical, magnetic and electrochemical behavior of solid state synthesized pure and Sr-doped LaFeO3 nanoparticles

Using the solid state reaction route, the present study compares the surface structural behaviour, electrochemical sensing, and magnetic properties of undoped and Sr-doped lanthanum ferrite (LaFeO3) products. Only an orthorhombic crystalline phase was found using the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies for the undoped LaFeO3 and Sr-doped LaFeO3 materials, respectively. The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis confirms the polycrystalline nature of the doped nanoparticles with narrow sized distribution (particle size range of 10-15 nm). The Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis confirms the presence of the Sr element in the lanthanum ferrite. The vibrational group of the synthesized products is thoroughly discussed. Powder XRD, TEM, optical absorption spectra, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) reveal that Srdoped LaFeO3 nanoparticles have a smaller size (10 nm), dispersed particles, a higher band gap (2.35 eV), coercivity (4275 Oe), and specific capacitance (256 at 2 mV/s) when compared to undoped LaFeO3 nanoparticles.