Effect of Sr2+ doping on sintering behavior, microstructural development and electrical properties of LaPO4·nH2O nanorods prepared by dry mechanical milling

440Bright-field high-resolution electron microscopy micrographs of the powders of LaPO4·nH2O (a) and La1−xSrxPO4−x/2 (x = 0.05) prepared by a dry mechanically activated chemical reaction both calcined at 800 °C/12 h. Crystals with boundaries much cleaner of an amorphous phase were observed by HREM for undoped samples (a) meanwhile for those doped (b) an amorphous phase is observed at some of the boundaries of the grains. The fringe spacing of the (200) plane is 0.564 (2) nm which corresponds to that reported for the base-centered orthorhombic La(PO3)3 structure. The inset at the top of Fig. (b) corresponds to the SAED pattern at the boundaries of the crystals and reveals an amorphous pattern.