Chemical Reduction of Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−δ Powders in Supercritical Sodium Ammonia Solutions

Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−δ powders are chemically reduced in supercritical sodium ammonia solutions from room temperature to 350°C. The crystallographic structure of the reduced powders is investigated from Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction. The atomic positions are maintained constant within...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yasmin Dias, Hui Wang, Haiqing Zhou, Feng Lin, Yucheng Lan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2015-01-01
Series:Advances in Condensed Matter Physics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/873972
Description
Summary:Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−δ powders are chemically reduced in supercritical sodium ammonia solutions from room temperature to 350°C. The crystallographic structure of the reduced powders is investigated from Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction. The atomic positions are maintained constant within experimental errors while temperature factors of all atoms increase significantly after the chemical treatments, especially of Nd/Ce atoms. The ammonothermally reduced Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−δ powders show diamagnetic below 24 K which is contributed to the lower oxygen content and higher temperature factors of atoms in the treated compound. The ammonothermal method paves a new way to reduce oxides in supercritical solutions near room temperature.
ISSN:1687-8108
1687-8124