Organic–inorganic perovskites for magnetic nanocomposites

Abstract

Two-dimensional perovskite compounds of the (C n H 2 n+1 NH 3) 2MnCl 4 ( n=2, 9) type have been synthesised by a solid-state chemistry route in order to act as the building blocks for organic–inorganic magnetic nanocomposite materials. Depending on the amine chain length, the corresponding interlayer lattice expansion was probed by powder X-ray diffraction, and analysed by the LeBail method of profile matching. These perovskites undergo a transition to an antiferromagnetic state ( T N=40–43 K). The low-dimensional magnetic behaviour characterised by both SQUID susceptibility and ESR measurements is marginally affected by the varying width of the organic layer separator. We discuss possible chemical routes for the incorporation of these lamellar alkyl amine perovskites in a polymer matrix to obtain new nanocomposite materials, which will support magnetic characteristics of the parent perovskite compounds.