Particle dispersion and lattice distortion induced magnetic behavior of La1-xSrxMnO3 perovskite nanoparticles grown by salt-assisted solid-state synthesis

Abstract La1-xSrxMnO3 perovskites are of enormous current interest due to their superior magnetoresistance and application as cathode material for solid oxide fuel cells. However, practical applications of these perovskites critically depend on size, composition, and concentration of La3+ vacancies at their surfaces. Here we present the fabrication of size controlled (90–255 nm average size), highly crystalline La1-xSrxMnO3 (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, and 1) nanoparticles, simply by ball-milling of metal acetylacetonate precursors in NaCl and subsequent air-annealing. The size of the nanoparticles increased in the order LaMnO3+ δ