Effects of Gd and Y Doping in BaFeO3-y

Abstract

The rare earth metals yttrium and gadolinium were substituted to the iron and barium sites respectively of BaFeO_3-y. Scanning electron micrographs show that increasing moles of dopant promoted the fusion of the grains. X-ray diffraction results showed that the doping of the rare earths on different sites produced dissimilar yet comparable results. In gadolinium doping, the system preferred the formation of a hexagonal structure. While for yttrium, a mixed state of hexagonal and cubic structures are preferred. Both types of doping in the system shifted the peaks of BaFeO3-y indicating a change in lattice parameters but in yttrium doping there is also the occurrence of peak splitting.