Effect of sintering temperature on crystal structure and surface morphology of NdFeO3 oxide alloy materials prepared by solid reaction method

This research to study the effect of sintering temperature on the crystalline structure and surface morphology of NdFeO<inf>3</inf> oxide alloy materials. NdFeO<inf>3</inf> was synthesized by solid-state reaction method with the mixing of 99.9 Nd2O<inf>3</inf> and 99.9 Fe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> as precursors. Three samples with the different process were made in this experiment. The 1^st (#1) and 2^nd (#2) samples were sintered for 84 hours at 950°C and 600°C. Calcination process was done at 950°C for 50 hours. The 3^rd (#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. © 2019 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.