Effect of Sintering Temperature on Crystal Structure and Surface Morphology of NdFeO₃ Oxide Alloy Materials Prepared by Solid Reaction Method

Abstract

This research is aimed to study the effect of sintering temperature on crystalline structure and surface morphology of NdFeO3 oxide alloy materials. NdFeO3 was synthesized by solid state reaction method with mixing of 99.9% Nd2O3 and 99.9% Fe2O3 as precursors. Three samples with different process were made in this experiment. The 1st (#1) and 2nd (#2) samples were sintered for 84 hours at 950°C and 600°C. Calcination procces was carried out at 950°C for 50 hours. The 3rd (#3) sample was sintered for 84 hours at 600°C without calcination process. The samples were characterized by using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction). Based on the SEM characterization result, it was obtained that the sintering temperature influence on surface morphology of NdFeO3 grain size. The XRD analyze was obtained FWHM (Full Width at Half Maximum) value of sample #1, #2 and #3 are 0.11°, 0.10°, and 0.31°, respectively. The value of FWHM was associated with the peak at 2Θ of 32.53° for all sample, it is indicated of hkl (121). Further calculation based on crystallography data was carried out by rietveld method with rietica software and the best quality will be applied as a gas sensor materials.