Synthesis and Structure Analysis of Aurivillius Phases Pb1‐xBi4‐+Ti1‐xMnxO15

Synthesis Pb_1‐xBi_4+xTi_4‐xMn_xO₁₅ compounds (0 ≤ × ≤ 1) were carried out by molten salts method using eutectic mixture of Na₂SO₄/K₂SO₄ salts (1:1 molar ratio) as the flux. The samples were characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction and refined by Le Bail method using Rietica program. The refinement results revealed that the compounds with the composition 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.6 formed Aurivillius phase with the space group A2₁am while the other composition (x ≥ 0.8) showed another phase beside A2₁am. The ratio b/a of the lattices constants for all the samples are larger than 1 indicating the direction of the orthorhombic along the b axis of their cells. The lattice parameters and volume of the unit cells decrease as the Mn content increasing from x = 0 to 0.6, for x ≥ 0.8 a second phase were observed. The morphologies of Pb_1‐xBi_4+xTi_4‐xMn_xO₁₅ samples were observed by SEM and show plate‐like aggregate crystals, typical of layered compounds belonging to the Aurivillius phase.