Influence of molar ratio of citric acid to metal ions on preparation of La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 materials via polymerizable complex process

Polycrystalline La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) nanometric sized powders and thin films are obtained from the resins synthesized by the polymerization of citric acid and ethylene glycol. Molar ratios of citric acid to metal ions were varied, and the resulting effects on the powder's properties were studied using TGA/DTA, FTIR, SEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that with the molar ratio of citric acid/metal ions at 4, the resin contained a lower fraction of monodentate ligand and a higher portion of CCO structure obtained from ethylene glycol, which made it possible to synthesize the perovskite phase at temperature as low as 500 °C. The powder calcined at 550 °C exhibited a pure phase of perovskite, had a particle size of about 20–50 nm and a specific surface area of 25.24 m2/g. Thin films were prepared by using the as-prepared sols for spin coating on (1 0 0) Si substrate to investigate the properties of the films. As a result of the molar ratio of citric acid/metal cations at 3–4, the transformation of rhombohedral structure to cubic structure was observed.