Exploring local structure in compositionally complex La1-xCaxMO3-δ perovskites

Compositionally complex perovskites are a new and promising area of research, the compounds contain multiple principal elements in near equimolar amounts which gives rise to vast chemical flexibility and tuneable properties. Among their functional capabilities, compositionally complex perovskites have demonstrated high ionic conductivity and low thermal conductivity. An understanding of the effect of compositional complexity on the local structure, disorder and distortion of the materials is necessary to properly utilise their unique features in new applications. We plan to investigate the short-range order of the transition metal cations in four compositionally complex La1-xCaxMO3- perovskites at room temperature. The experiment will compare three different compositions with varying degrees of compositional complexity and additionally compare the effect of solid-state vs sol-gel synthesis methods. The compositions will include La0.8Ca0.2CrO3- (M1), La0.8Ca0.2(CrFeNi)O3- (M3) and La0.8Ca0.2(CrMnFeCoNi)O3- (M5). The effect of compositional complexity on the clustering of metal cations and oxygen vacancies will be studied. The results will be compared over the varying degrees of compositional complexity to ensure meaningful results and determine the applicability of the technique to more compositionally complex materials.