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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 May 2014
Stoichiometric 4H-SrMnO3.0 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized for the first time from thermal decomposition of a new heterometallic precursor [SrMn(edta)(H2O)5]·3/2H2O. From this precursor, highly homogeneous 4H-SrMnO3.0 nanoparticles with average particle size 70 nm are obtained. Local structural information, provided by atomically-resolved microscopy techniques, shows that 4H-SrMnO3.0 nanoparticles exhibit the same general structural features than the bulk material, although structural disorder, due to edge-dislocations, is observed. The nanometric size of particles enables a topotactic reduction process at low temperature stabilizing a metastable 4H-SrMnO2.82 phase. The oxygen deficiency is accommodated through extra cubic layers breaking the …hchc… 4H-sequence. These defect areas are Mn3+ rich as evidenced by high energy resolution EELS data. Magnetic characterization of nano-4H-SrMnO3-δ shows significant variations with respect to the bulk material.