Synthesis of Co doped anisotropic YbFeO3 microparticles and their exolution behaviour

In this work, the hydrothermal synthesis of anisotropic microparticles of YbFeO3 doped with Co was performed. The importance of reaction conditions such as reaction temperature, residence time and reagent concentration was investigated. In particular, the use of different KOH/mineraliser ratios promotes the growth of crystals with different morphologies in the hydrothermal synthesis. The as obtained anisotropic microparticles of YbxFe0.95Co0.05O3 (x = 1; 0.095) were treated under exsolution conditions (high temperatures in a reducing atmosphere) to study the behaviour of the material and to observe if the formation of exsolved nanoparticles occurs on the surfaces of the material. Scanning election microscopy (SEM), powder X-Ray spectroscopy (PXRD), mass spectrometry (MS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) were carried out to analyse the material.