PrMnO3 porous nanostructures: Synthesis and structural, optical and magnetic properties

Porous nanostructures of the PrMnO3 system were synthesized by the sol-gel method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant, and two different solvents, ethanol and ethylene glycol. The effect of the synthesis process on the properties of the PrMnO3 obtained were studied using infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The magnetic properties of the synthesized PrMnO3 nanostructures were also determined as a function of temperature using an applied field of 0.1T (1 kOe) between 50 and 270 K. These nanostructures showed changes in their magnetic behavior, registering transition temperatures in the paramagnetic regime at 57 K for the samples synthesized in ethanol (PrMnO3-M1) and 62 K when ethylene glycol (PrMnO3-M2) was used.