Double Perovskite La2NiMnO6 Research Articles

Synergizing experimental and theoretical insights: Unveiling the solar potential of La2NiMnO6 double perovskite for enhanced efficiency and sustainability in photovoltaics

Amidst the escalating demand for sustainable energy solutions, this research delves into the competence of double perovskite oxide La2NiMnO6 as a solar cell luminary. Addressing material synthesis, structural intricacies, and device construction, the study responds to the limitations of labour-intensive first-generation Si solar cells along with the toxicity of lead attributed perovskite solar cells, steering towards a revolutionary era. La2NiMnO6 distinctive attributes a formidable dielectric constant, positioning it as a beacon in solar energy. Crafted via sol gel citrate alchemy, its structural, optical, and electronic intricacies were meticulously explored. Experimental insights into the fabrication process, employing optimised spray pyrolysis layers, enrich the narrative. Structural analyses confirm La2NiMnO6 prowess, while optical studies unveil its visible spectrum absorbance. Simulations and the experimental J-V curve show PCEs of 10% and 4.5 %, solidifying the La2NiMnO6 stance in the all-inorganic perovskite solar cell realm. This study propels the evolution of photovoltaic technology, laying pathways for sustainable energy alternatives and setting new benchmarks.

Influence of Band Alignment, Electric Field, Layer Thickness, Temperature, Series Resistance, and Shunt Resistance on Lead-Free Double Perovskite Solar Cells with Spiro-OMeTAD: A SCAPS-1D Simulation Study

Investigating the photovoltaic (PV) performance of lead-free double perovskite solar cells (DPSCs) with a structure comprising a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate, tungsten disulfide (WS2) as the electron transport layer (ETL), inorganic-lead free and non-toxic double perovskite La2NiMnO6 absorber, Spiro-OMeTAD as the hole transport layer (HTL), and gold (Au) electrode using the SCAPS-1D framework is crucial for optimizing their efficiency. Despite significant progress in DPSCs, there remains a research gap in understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying their performance, particularly in optimizing material properties and device architectures for enhanced efficiency. This study focuses on optimizing the device architecture by investigating the impact of band alignment, electric field, layer thickness, temperature, series resistance, and shunt resistance on enhancing DPSC performance. Achieving an power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.51% with detailed analysis of the DPSCs highlights the key factors influencing their efficiency. These findings contribute valuable insights into enhancing the performance of DPSCs, advancing their potential for widespread adoption in solar energy conversion.

Dielectric, electrochemical and magnetic properties of the hydrothermally synthesized double perovskite La2NiMnO6 for energy storage applications

Double perovskite materials are greatly appealing because of their multiferroic properties. Among such materials, double perovskite with rare earth metals are widely studied by researchers. Presently, the double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) samples are synthesized using the hydrothermal method by varying the concentration of the solvent (NaOH). The Powder X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of monoclinic structure with the P21/n space group for prepared LNMO samples. The SEM image of the prepared samples revealed a cube-like structure. The impedance, dielectric, AC conductivity and modulus are studied in a wide frequency range from 100 Hz to 5 MHz to analyse the electrical and microstructure properties of the synthesized LNMO samples. The presence of a non- Debye type of relaxation peak is confirmed by impedance, dielectric and modulus studies. The effect of grains and grain boundaries are analysed by the Nyquist plot and the polarization of the materials are explained by the Maxwell-Wagner interfacial polarization model and Koop's theory. Using a three electrode system, the electrochemical behaviour of prepared LNMO samples are studied in various concentration of electrolyte (KOH) at different scan rates and found to have a pseudocapacitive nature. The highest specific capacitance value for LNMO10 is 44.60 F/g, LNMO20 is 50.14 F/g and LNMO30 is 25.81 F/g at a scan rate of 10 mV/s for 3 M KOH. The room temperature magnetic behaviour of synthesized LNMO samples analysed by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer paves way for magnetic storage applications.

Recent advances in La2NiMnO6 double perovskites for various applications; challenges and opportunities

Double perovskites R2NiMnO6 (R = Rare earth element) (RNMO) are a significant class of materials owing to their Multifunctional properties with the structural modifications. In particular, multifunctional double perovskite oxides La2NiMnO6(LNMO) which possess both electric and magnetic orderings, chemical flexibility, versatility, and indispensable properties like high ferromagnetic curie temperature, high absorption rates, dielectrics, etc. have drawn a lot of attention due their rich physics and diverse applications in various technology. This justifies the intense research in this class of materials, and the keen interest they are subject to both the fundamental and practical side. In view of the demands of this material in lead-free perovskite solar cells, photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes, clean hydrogen production, electric tuneable devices, fuel cells, gas sensing, and biomedical applications, there is a need for an overview of all the literature so far, the ongoing research and the future prospective. This review summarised all the physical and structural properties of LNMO such as electric, magnetic, catalytic, and dielectric properties with their underlying mechanisms. This review article provides insight into the scope of studies in LNMO material for exploring unexposed properties in new material research and to identify areas of future investigation of the materials in the double perovskite family.

Numerical Investigation of Power Conversion Efficiency of Sustainable Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells have been researched for high efficiency only in the last few years. These cells could offer an efficiency increase of about 3% to more than 15%. However, lead-based perovskite materials are very harmful to the environment. So, it is imperative to find lead-free materials and use them in designing solar cells. This research investigates the potential for using a lead-free double-perovskite material, La2NiMnO6, as an absorbing layer in perovskite solar cells to enhance power conversion efficiency (PCE). Given the urgent need for environmentally friendly energy sources, the study addresses the problem of developing alternative materials to replace lead-based perovskite materials. Compared to single-perovskite materials, double perovskites offer several advantages, such as improved stability, higher efficiency, and broader absorption spectra. In this research work, we have simulated and analyzed a double-perovskite La2NiMnO6 as an absorbing material in a variety of electron transport layers (ETLs) and hole transport layers (HTLs) to maximize the capacity for high-efficiency power conversion (PCE). It has been observed that for a perovskite solar cells with La2NiMnO6 absorbing layer, C60 and Cu2O provide good ETLs and HTLs, respectively. Therefore, the achieved power conversion efficiency (PCE) is improved. The study demonstrates that La2NiMnO6, as a lead-free double-perovskite material can serve as an effective absorbing layer in perovskite solar cells. The findings of this study contribute to the growing body of research on developing high-efficiency, eco-friendly perovskite solar cell technologies and have important implications for the advancement of renewable energy production.

Effect of Series Resistance and Temperature on PCE of Double Perovskite La2NiMnO6‐Based PSC

AbstractIn the present work, lead‐free double perovskite material La2NiMnO6 is used as a light‐harvesting layer in device configuration of FTO/TiO2/LNMO/CuI/Au and simulates through solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS‐1D). The series resistance and operating temperature are varied from 0 to 6 Ω and 250 to 350 K respectively to investigate the device output under ambient atmospheric conditions. The designed perovskite solar cell (PSC) based device helps to optimize the chemical and physical parameter of PSC during the fabrication. The present study exhibits that the developed device can show maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.07% at the device approach to zero resistance and further, at operation temperature 250 K the device has shown superior PCE 26.79%.

A theoretical exploration of lead-free double perovskite La2NiMnO6 based solar cell via SCAPS-1D

To efficiently transform light energy into electrical via developing smart and environmentally benign materials is one of the most investigated ways of producing renewable energy. Here, inorganic-lead free and non-toxic double perovskite La2NiMnO6 material is employed as an active layer along with fullerene as ETL and NiO as HTL to form heterostructure perovskite solar cell. To determine the highest power conversion efficiency for the current photovoltaic device, an extensive theoretical analysis is implemented using the SCAPS-1D simulation tool. The best performing devices showed power conversion efficiency of 24.46% with excellent solar cell characteristics, whereas the performance can be tuned via careful modulation of metal work function. The theoretical finding suggests that with a systematic investigation of these materials can be utilized as probable successors for highly efficient active material in photovoltaic utilities.

Unraveling the Structural, Dielectric, Magnetic, and Optical Characteristics of Nanostructured La2NiMnO6 Double Perovskites.

Double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) nanoparticles and nanorods were synthesized via a hydrothermal process, where only aqueous inorganic solvents are used to regulate the microscopic morphology of the products without using any organic template. They crystallized in a monoclinic (P21/n) double perovskite crystal structure. The LNMO nanoparticles exhibited spherical morphology with an average particle size of 260 ± 60 nm, and the LNMO nanorods had diameters of 430 ± 120 nm and length about 2.05 ± 0.65 μm. Dual chemical oxidation states of the Ni and Mn ions were confirmed in the LNMO samples by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Strong frequency dispersion dielectric behavior observed in the LNMO ceramics, is attributed to the space charge polarization and the oxygen vacancy induced dielectric relaxation. A ferroelectric—paraelectric phase transition appearing near 262 K (or 260 K) in the LNMO ceramics prepared from nanoparticles (or nanorods) was identified to be a second-order phase transition. The LNMO samples are ferromagnetic at 5 K but paramagnetic at 300 K. The LNMO nanoparticles had larger saturation magnetization (MS = 6.20 μB/f.u. @ 5 K) than the LNMO nanorods (MS = 5.68 μB/f.u.) due to a lower structural disorder in the LNMO nanorods. The semiconducting nature of the nanostructured LNMO with an optical band gap of 0.99 eV was revealed by the UV–visible absorption spectra. The present results enable the nanostructured LNMO to be a promising candidate for practical spintronic devices.

Oxygen defect engineered magnetism of La2NiMnO6 thin films

The double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) exhibits complex magnetism due to the competition of magnetic interactions that are strongly affected by structural and magnetic inhomogeneities. In this work, we study the effect of oxygen annealing on the structure and magnetism of epitaxial thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. The key observations are that a longer annealing time leads to a reduction of saturation magnetization and an enhancement in the ferromagnetic transition temperature. We explain these results based upon epitaxial strain and oxygen defect engineering. The oxygen enrichment by annealing caused a decrease in the volume of the perovskite lattice. This increased the epitaxial strain of the films that are in-plane locked to the SrTiO3 substrate. The enhanced strain caused a reduction in the saturation magnetization due to randomly distributed anti-site defects. The reduced oxygen defects concentration in the films due to the annealing in oxygen improved the ferromagnetic long-range interaction and caused an increase in the magnetic transition temperature.

Ferromagnetic insulating epitaxially strained La2NiMnO6 thin films grown by sputter deposition

The field of oxide spintronics can strongly benefit from the establishment of ferromagnetic insulators with near room-temperature Curie temperature. Here, we investigate the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of epitaxially strained thin films of the double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) grown by off-axis radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. We find that the films retain insulating behavior and a bulk-like Curie temperature in the order of 280 K independently of the epitaxial strain conditions. These results suggest a prospective implementation of LNMO films in multi-layer device architectures where a high-temperature ferromagnetic insulating state is a prerequisite.

Facile wet chemical synthesis and electrochemical performance of double perovskite- La2NiMnO6 for energy storage application

We report the double perovskite electrode material La2NiMnO6 for energy storage application prepared by facile wet chemical sol–gel method. The double perovskite La2NiMnO6 exhibits monoclinic crystal structure with P21/n symmetry. The La2NiMnO6 electrode has shown pseudocapacitive behavior, yielded specific capacitance of 478.2 F/g at scan rate of 2 mV/s, via cyclicvoltammetric technique.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of the structural and magnetic properties of La2NiMnO6

This work investigated in theoretical and experimental forms the structural and magnetic properties of the double perovskite La2NiMnO6. The nanoparticles were prepared through the method of coordination chemistry using chitosan, and the crystal structure is monoclinic with P21/n space group. The ab initio calculation was applied successfully to investigate this material's structural, electronic, and magnetic effects. The calculation of the geometry optimization gave support to the understanding of the experimental results, which suggest the formation of the crystalline structure with deformation in the octahedral sites of Ni/Mn. The magnetization measures suggest ferromagnetic ordering of the Ni2+-O-Mn4+ phase and anti-site disorder Ni2+-O-Ni2+ or Mn4+-O-Mn4+ to T < 150 K, TC ≈ 150 K and paramagnetic behaviour in ambient conditions. With the calculation of the electronic structure and the state density was possible to observe the semiconductor feature of the material. The spins state reveals a ferromagnetic coupling between the (3d8) Ni2+ and (3d3) Mn4+ ions. Both results indicate this system’s complexity, making it of great interest in basic research and practical applications.

Effect of appropriate ETL on quantum efficiency of double perovskite La2NiMnO6 based solar cell device via SCAPS simulation

Inorganic lead-free double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) photovoltaic material is sandwiched between the electron transport layers (ETLs) and CuI as hole transport layer (HTL) to project the hetrostructures for the SCAPS simulation. In the present investigation, different ETLs such as TiO2, C60, PCBM and ZnO are simulated with double perovskite La2NiMnO6 absorbing material to get high power conversion efficiency (PCE). The work function of front electrode is also varied from 3.8 eV to 4.6 eV to investigate the appropriate value of work function for lead-free double perovskite based devices. After the careful simulation, we have observed that ETLs C60 and TiO2 can becomes suitable candidate for La2NiMnO6 absorbing layer based perovskite solar cell and device show stable output up to 4.4 eV, further increase in work function leads to degradation of device performance.

Progresses and challenges in the structural and magnetic properties of double perovskite La2NiMnO6 with their applications in solar energy

Lead free and environment friendly, light absorbing material is in high demand for the photovoltaic perovskite solar cell devices. The double perovskite La2NiMnO6 have the centre of attention for this demand. The present review is focused to discuss briefly the progress and challenges in the structural and magnetic properties of La2NiMnO6 in bulk, nano and thin film phases. The structural changes of La2NiMnO6 are highly interesting and have the direct correlation with the magnetic properties. On the basis of these transformations in the structure, efforts have been made to discuss several scientific progresses into technical novelties. This short review article is critically dedicated on reviewing the progresses, openings, and upcoming challenges in perovskite solar cell devices.

Rapid Thermal Annealing of Double Perovskite Thin Films Formed by Polymer Assisted Deposition.

The annealing process is an important step common to epitaxial films prepared by chemical solution deposition methods. It is so because the final microstructure of the films can be severely affected by the precise features of the thermal processing. In this work we analyze the structural and magnetic properties of double perovskite La2CoMnO6 and La2NiMnO6 epitaxial thin films prepared by polymer-assisted deposition (PAD) and crystallized by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). It is found that samples prepared by RTA have similar values of saturation magnetization and Curie temperature to their counterparts prepared by using conventional thermal annealing (CTA) processes, thus indicating low influence of the heating rates on the B-B’ site cationic ordering of the A2BB’O6 double perovskite structure. However, a deeper analysis of the magnetic behavior suggested some differences in the actual microstructure of the films.

Theoretical evidence of high power conversion efficiency in double perovskite solar cell device

Abstract Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of inorganic lead-free double perovskite La2NiMnO6 photovoltaic material has reached 15.42% with considerably enhanced parameters of the absorbing layer. Herein, to find overall optimization for the present solar cell device, a comprehensive study is performed using the SCAPS simulation and first principle density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which may be easily control in the experimental laboratory. The double perovskite La2NiMnO6 is used as an absorbing layer in the heterostructure with TiO2 as an electron transport layer (ETL) and CuI as a hole transport layer (HTL). The impact of thickness, defect density, doping concentration, electron affinity of the absorber, various back metal contacts, and hole transport materials are taken into account for the optimization of the device. Firstly, the device is optimized with its experimental counterpart and shows the high possible power conversion efficiency after the variation in its absorbing layer parameters. If this efficiency will be confirmed in the laboratory then this lead-free inorganic double perovskite material may offer pronounced potential as a substitute, highly efficient material for the photovoltaic applications as an absorbing layer. The final optimized device performance parameters are as following: PCE = 15.42%, FF = 55.57%, Jsc = 40.64 mA/cm2 and Voc = 0.6828 V. The quantum efficiency is also investigated with respect to the thickness of the absorber, ETL, and HTL layers of the device and observed an enhancement in the quantum efficiency with the increase in absorber layer thickness.

Magnetocaloric Properties of A-Site-Doped La2NiMnO6 for Environmentally Friendly Refrigeration

La2NiMnO6 double perovskite material that simultaneously exhibits both electric and magnetic ordering is used in energy-efficient electronic applications due to its lower power dissipation. The magnetic and electric ordering of Ni and Mn depend on the site occupancy and exchange mechanism driven by the anions, making La2NiMnO6 a widely explored material for such studies. The magnetocaloric properties of A-site-doped (Sr2+, Gd3+) double perovskite La2NiMnO6 have been investigated experimentally. The synthesized samples showed Pbnm orthorhombic symmetry with P21/n configuration. The Curie temperature (TC) of La2NiMnO6 (LMN) increased from 277 K to 284 K upon Gd doping due to strong exchange interactions and long-range ordering of Ni2+/Mn4+. Meanwhile, the Tc of LMN was observed to be 268 K upon Sr2+ doping, suggesting the possibility of antiferromagnetic ordering. Sr2+-doped (hole-doped) LMN showed lower Tc, magnetic entropy, and relative cooling power (RCP), which may be due to the increase in antisite disorder and exchange bias effect. The chemical stability, tunable transition temperature around room temperature with good control over entropy, wider operating temperature range, and high RCP at lower applied magnetic field make LMN and A-site-doped LMN potential refrigerant materials for use in energy-efficient room-temperature magnetic cooling systems.

Paramagnetic resonance in La2NiMnO6 probed by impedance and lock-in detection techniques

We studied the frequency-dependent (f = 1 GHz to 5 GHz) microwave absorption in the double perovskite La2NiMnO6 at room temperature using two cavity-less methods: An indirect impedance method that uses a radio frequency impedance analyzer and a folded copper strip coil for the frequency range f = 1–2.2 GHz and a lock-in based broadband setup using a coplanar waveguide for microwave excitation in the frequency range f = 2–5 GHz. The high-frequency resistance of the strip coil exhibits a sharp peak and the reactance curve crosses zero at a critical value of dc magnetic field as a consequence of the paramagnetic resonance in the sample. The resonance fields (Hr) obtained from both the techniques increase linearly with frequency. Line shape analysis and analytical fitting were performed to characterize the material in terms of its initial susceptibility and damping parameters. From the fit, we obtain a large spectroscopic g-factor, equal to 2.1284, which supports the presence of Ni2+ cation with strong spin-orbit coupling.

Ba doping induced modifications in the structural, morphological and dielectric properties of double perovskite La2NiMnO6 ceramics

We report the modifications in the structural, morphological and dielectric properties of La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) by doping Ba at La site for three different proportions. These ceramics were successfully synthesized by the solid-state route as revealed by the X-ray diffraction patterns of three compositions. The sample phases were confirmed by the Rietveld refinement which showed monoclinic symmetry having P21/n space group. The scanning electron microscopy imaging of the pristine LNMO sample reveals ablated spheres, and this gets modified to sugar-cube like structures after the Ba substitution at La site. In addition to modification in morphology, a decrease in porosity is also noticed after Ba doping as calculated from the ratio of pore-pixels to the entire pixel-count of the image which reveals the percent porosity. The substitution of Ba2+ in place of La3+ is expected to bring about changes in the overall conduction mechanisms and also the dielectric relaxations in the LNMO. The temperature-dependent (100K–400K) and frequency-dependent (1 ​kHz–2 ​MHz) dielectric studies reveal that the Ba doping results in the decrease of dielectric constant and dielectric loss. This decrease is attributed to conversion between Ni2+ to Ni3+ and Mn4+ to Mn3+ due to Ba doping resulting in an increase of grain resistance as such decreasing possibility of most of the electrons to reach grain boundaries, which in turn causes a decrease in polarization and thus resulting in the decrement in the value of dielectric constant. Low dielectric materials are preferable and more reliable as they cause low heat dissipation and reduce any parasitic capacitance, thus allowing faster switching speeds in the fabricated devices.

Enhanced dielectric properties and relaxation behavior in double perovskite-polymer-based flexible 0–3 nanocomposite films

The double perovskite nanostructures were prepared by using hydrothermal route to obtain single-phase rhombohedral structure. The flexible magneto-dielectric nanocomposite films with double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) nanostructures and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) polymer were fabricated by solution casting method. The structural, thermal, and dielectric properties of the developed double perovskite nanostructures and their combination with (PVDF-HFP) as nanocomposite films were investigated. The fabricated nanocomposite films demonstrated an improvement in the crystalline phase with the increase in the loading of La2NiMnO6 (0–40 wt%). The nanocomposite film with 30 wt% of LNMO exhibited higher dielectric permittivity (> 40) alongside with a dielectric loss of as low as 0.6 at room temperature and thereafter it reached percolation threshold. The dielectric studies also revealed an efficient charge separation and a strong interfacial polarization at the interfaces by facilitating the charge accumulation in the nanocomposites than that of the pure polymer film. The thermally activated relaxation behavior in the films followed the Arrhenius law and the obtained activation energies were found to be ~ 1.12 eV.