Structural and electrical studies of nanocrystalline Mn3O4

In this paper, we report synthesis, structural, microstructure and electrical study of Mn3O4. Manganese oxide in the form of Mn3O4 was prepared by co-precipitation technique using manganese nitrate as source at the calcination temperature of 400 °C. The crystal structure has been refined by least squire fitting method using powder X-ray diffraction data. The structure refinement showed the formation of single phase with no any secondary phases. The lattice parameter and cell volume has been calculated manually from standard equations and verified by UNITCELL software program. The particle size was also determined from the XRD pattern using Scherrer's equation. The microstructure of calcined and sintered sample was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The temperature dependent dc conductivity of the Mn3O4 pellet was studied in the temperature range between room temperature to 500 °C. The conductivity of this spinal was very less at room temperature and increased with increasing temperature exhibiting negative temperature of coefficient of resistance behavior with activation energy 0.91eV.