Abstract
La 0.5 Sr 0.5 TiO 3 (LSTO) nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal decomposition using La(acetate)-C 6 H 9 LaO 6 $\Cdot$H 2 O, Sr(acetate)-(CH 3 CO 2 ) 2 Sr and C 6 H 28 O 6 Ti as staring materials. The precursor was calcined at 600, 700, 800, and 900 °C for 3 h in Ar. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the crystalline phase of the perovskite structure starts to be formed at 600 °C with the particle sizes in the range of ${\sim}29{\mbox{--}}39$ nm. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) bright-field images show the agglomeration of LSTO nanoparticles with particle size in the same range as reveal by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns indicate that increasing the calcination temperature can increase the crystallinity of the nanoparticles. Optical absorption measurements show the decrease of the energy band gap with increasing calcination temperature. The magnetization measurements indicate that all of the samples are paramagnetic.