Canted antiferromagnetic and optical properties of nanostructures of Mn2O3 prepared by hydrothermal synthesis

Abstract

We have reported new magnetic and optical properties of Mn2O3 nanostructures. The nanostructures have been synthesized by the hydrothermal method combined with the adjustment of pH values in the reaction system. The particular characteristics of the nanostructures have been analyzed by employing X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopy (RS), UV—visible spectroscopy, and the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Structural investigation manifests that the synthesized Mn2O3 nanostructures are orthorhombic crystal. Magnetic investigation indicates that the Mn2O3 nanostructures are antiferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic transition temperature is at TN = 83 K. Furthermore, the Mn2O3 nanostructures possess canted antiferromagnetic order below the Neel temperature due to spin frustration, resulting in hysteresis with large coercivity (1580 Oe) and remnant magnetization (1.52 emu/g). The UV—visible spectrophotometry was used to determine the transmittance behaviour of Mn2O3 nanostructures. A direct optical band gap of 1.2 eV was acquired by using the Davis—Mott model. The UV—visible spectrum indicates that the absorption is prominent in the visible region, and transparency is more than 80% in the UV region.