Tuning of the band gap, structural, morphological, electrical, and magnetic properties of LaMn1 − xFexO3 for x = 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 manganite nanoparticles

Perovskite oxides are an intriguing class of nanomaterials that have recently gained attention as catalysts due to their exceptional mechanical strength, high thermal and hydrothermal stability, and other notable qualities. In the present work, we employed the co-precipitation technique to fabricate the rare earth magnate perovskite oxide LaMn1 − xFexO3 (LMFO). We evaluated the synthesized nanoparticle using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, dielectric properties, ac conductivity, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) characterization. The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of the perovskite phase. According to the SEM micrographs, the morphology is porosity because of voids between the particles. FTIR analysis was used to look at the functional groups in both pure lanthanum manganite and lanthanum manganite with iron added to it. Fe3+ substitution significantly influences the optical and electrical characteristics of LaMn1 − xFexO3 (LMFO). Notably, the optical band gap decreased from 3.94 to 3.78 eV (Eg = 3.87 ± 0.11 eV) with increasing Fe3+ concentration, while the refractive index increased from 2.105 to 2.141. The dielectric constant increased, and the dielectric loss decreased with increasing Fe3+ concentration, with a maximum value at x = 0.1. The conductivity also increased with Fe3+ concentration. These results show that adding Fe3+ has a big effect on the optical, electrical, and magnetic properties of LMFO. This makes them interesting materials for use in electronics, optics, and catalysis. We both experimentally and theoretically investigated the impact of effectively replacing larger ionic radii Mn3+ with smaller ionic radii Fe3+ on photo physical characteristics.