Preparation method and cerium dopant effects on the properties of BaMnO3single perovskite

We report the synthesis of barium cerium manganite (BaMn0.94Ce0.06O3) single perovskite by using a conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction method. A structural phase transition occurs from hexagonal to orthorhombic confirmed by XRD data analysis after doping cerium (Ce) to the pure barium manganite (BaMnO3) matrix. The average crystallite size of the sample is about 63.38 nm. The lattice strain produced due to the addition of Ce dopant in the host matrix is about 0.00142. The SEM micrograph suggests the average grain size is about 30 mu m. It is observed that the grain plays a dominant role compare to grain boundaries in defining the conductivity in the sample. The thermally activated relaxation process is controlled by the immobile charge carriers in the host materials at low-temperature range while controlled by defects at higher temperatures. From all the results, it is confirmed that the sample is dominated by the hopping process. The semicircular Nyquist plots confirm the semiconducting nature of the sample which is well supported by Cole-Cole plots.