Comparative Study of Magnetic Ordering and Electrical Transport in Bulk and Nano-Grained Nd0.67Sr0.33MnO3 Manganites

We have prepared bulk and nano-sized Nd0.67Sr0.33MnO3 manganites by solid state and low-temperature mild solgel methods respectively. Both the compounds crystallized into an orthorhombic structure with Pbnm space group confirmed from Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction patterns. Nano grained compound shows an average particle size of 22 nm with broad grain size distribution revealed from the Transmission electron micrographs. It appeared that the long range ferromagnetic order becomes unstable upon the reduction of the samples dimension down to nano meter scale. DC magnetization and AC susceptibility results showed frustration of spins in nano-grained compound and thereby it could lead to a cluster glass-like behaviour. Temperature dependence of electrical resistivity under different magnetic fields shows the broad maxima at higher temperatures and a low temperature upturn in both the compounds, however, the latter is more prominent in the nano grained compound. Combination of Kondo effect with electron and phonon interactions govern the low temperature resistivity and a small polaron hopping mechanism dominates at high temperatures for both the compounds. The magnetoresistance is understood by the effect of spin polarized tunneling through the grain boundary. The experimental results revealed that the reduction in particle size influences severely on the magnetic, electrical and magneto transport properties. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.