Tuning the morphological, structural, optical and dielectric properties of hausmannite (Mn3O4) films by doping heavy metal lead

In this study, we reported a systematic approach to prepare bare and lead doped Mn3O4 films synthesized by the SILAR method. Morphological, structural, optical and dielectric specialties of the Mn3O4 films were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometry and the impedance analysis, respectively with respect to changes in Pb dopant quantity. SEM and AFM analysis exhibited that Pb-doping influenced the morphology of the film surface. X-ray diffraction patterns proved that films have a cubic crystal structure with preferential orientations of (104) and (211) planes. The crystallite sizes of the bare and lead-doped Mn3O4 films were found to vary from 20.80 to 10.20 nm. The bandgap value of the Mn3O4 films increases from 2.20 eV to 2.38 eV after doping Pb. The dielectric constant, AC conductivity, and loss tangent of the produced samples were studied in the frequency range of 20 Hz-1 MHz. The analysis results showed that the dielectric constant and AC conductivity of the Mn3O4 compound had changed drastically with the doping of Pb. The dielectric constant and AC conductivity rose from 1703 to 120777 and from 3.35 × 10−5 to 2.6310−3 S/m at 100 Hz with 0.25 M% Pb-doping, respectively.