Structural and optical properties of La_1-xPb_xFe_0.5Ti_0.5O₃ (x = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) perovskite material prepared by sol-gel method

A series of La_1-xPb_xFe_0.5Ti_0.5O₃ (x = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by sol-gel method. All prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-Vis spectrophotometry (UV-Vis). The X-ray diffraction pattern revealed the orthorhombic crystal structure and the increase of crystallite size with Pb content. The Raman scattering exhibited the similar Raman spectrum indicating the crystal structure remain unchanged due to the Pb substitution; indeed, the difference in lattice vibration phonon modes confirmed the variation in structural parameters with Pb-substitution which is also supported by FT-IR analysis. By using UV-Vis characterization, the optical band gap is found in the range of 2.1-2.2 eV.