Optical and magnetic properties of YFeO3 nanoparticles synthesized by a co-precipitation method at high temperature

This work describes the synthesis of nanocrystalline yttrium orthoferrite by simple co-precipitation method of Y(III) and Fe(III) cations in boiling water with 5% sodium carbonate aqueous solution without any surfactants. YFeO3 nanoparticles are obtained by annealing the precursors at different temperatures (600, 700, and 800 °C) for 1 h. The TEM analysis shows the particle size in the range of 50–60 nm. According to XRD data (calculated using the Scherrer formula), an increase in annealing temperature from 600 to 800 °C leads to an increase in the average crystallite size from 29.6 to 42.8 nm and in the unit cell volume from 226.40 to 228.55 Å3. Synthesized YFeO3 nanoparticles have strong absorption in the UV–Vis regions (λ = 200–400 and 400–600 nm) and are soft ferromagnetic materials with high magnetization. Additionally, YFeO3 nanoparticles with a low energy bandgap (Eg ≈ 2.4 eV) are suitable for photocatalysis and can be recovered by magnets.