Structural analysis and Rietveld refinement of YCr1-xFexO3 (x=0, 0.5) perovskite samples calcined at two different temperatures

Abstract

In the present work, we have synthesized polycrystalline YCr1-xFexO3 (x = 0, 0.5) perovskite samples using the traditional high-temperature solid-state reaction route (HT-SSRR) at two different temperatures for calcination (1000 °C as well as 1150 °C). The main objective of our investigation is to observe how these calcination temperatures impact the structural properties of the polycrystalline YCr1-xFexO3 (x = 0, 0.5) perovskite samples and reveal the comparative difference based on structural analysis and Rietveld refinement. The powder XRD analysis confirmed the presence of secondary phases, including Y2O3, Cr2O3, and Fe2O3, in the synthesized samples at both calcination temperatures. Notably, a higher calcination temperature (1150 °C) led to a reduction in the secondary phases and an increase in the crystalline size as determined by the Debye-Scherrer method (DSM). The FullProf software suite was used for performing a Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data. These findings suggest the crucial role of calcination temperature in tailoring the phase purity and crystallinity of YCr1-xFexO3 (x = 0, 0.5) perovskites.