Controlled synthesis of highly ordered NdFeO3 nanoparticle using a microwave route

Metal oxides and perovskite are being employed as catalysts for various applications. NdFeO3 is one of the important perovskite widely reported for various applications including solid oxide fuel cells, oxygen permeation membranes, as environmental catalyst, etc. Such materials have also been found to be suitable components as electrods in high temperature environments. The solids are also catalytically active for hydrocarbons oxidation and for combustion and can be used in sensors and solid electrolytes. In this paper, we report a simple method to prepare NdFeO3 nanocrystal. In this chemical synthesis method, pure phase formation can be accelerated, as it involves mixing of Nd and Fe chloride with 1:1 molar ratio with using different surfactants. Then the mixture was transferred into a Microwave device with 540 W powers for 6 minutes. The resulting products were centrifuged for 15 min at 3000 rpm, and pure perovskite crystal phases were achieved at final calcinations temperature of 950 °C. The final samples were then confirmed by different techniques. The morphology and particle sizes of the prepared samples were determined by FT-IR, XRD, SEM and EDX and results clearly show that the orthorhombic perovskite structure.