Phase formation study of noble metal (Au, Ag and Pd) doped lanthanum perovskites synthesized by hydrothermal method

Noble metal (Au, Ag and Pd) doped Lanthanum perovskites (LaMnO3, LaCrO3 and LaFeO3) have been synthesized by hydrothermal method. The effect of dopant and their concentration on the phase purity, crystallite size, morphology and magnetic character of the synthesized perovskites were systematically studied by FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, TGA, SEM, ICP-AES and VSM. The results show that phase pure products were obtained only after calcining the hydrothermally synthesized products above 760 °C for a minimum of 6 h. Nature and concentration of the dopant plays an important role in determining the phase formation temperature, morphology and magnetic character. The dopant ion preferentially occupies A-site and homogeneous phase of product is obtained upto a dopant concentration of 4%, higher concentration results in phase separation. The products exhibit spherical morphology. Lanthanum ferrite shows ferromagnetic nature, while the doped samples show weak magnetic properties.