Chemical pressure engineering of perovskite oxide nanoparticles for oxygen evolution

Chemical pressure engineering of perovskite oxide nanoparticles for oxygen evolution | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Chemical pressure engineering of perovskite oxide nanoparticles for oxygen evolution Deepash Saini, Sandeep Kumar, Sesh Yadav, Prashant Shahi, Shubhankar Majumdar, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8431296/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Perovskite oxides are well known for their excellent intrinsic activity toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. However, precise control and a clear understanding of their active phases remain elusive. In this work, we demonstrate the effect of chemical pressure-induced strain through controlled substitution of isovalent La-site with Nd in sol-gel auto combustion-derived LaFeO₃ nanoparticles on the OER activities. Substitution of the smaller atom, Nd, at the La-site in LaFeO₃ generates inward chemical pressure, leading to the shrinkage of the LaFeO₃ lattice. This chemical pressure effect promotes the formation of oxygen vacancies and thereby tailors the Fe as an active site to significantly boost OER performance. Raman spectroscopy validates the structural distortion induced by chemical pressure in Nd-substituted LaFeO₃. Theoretical calculations reveal that Nd substitution at the La site shifts the band edges closer to the Fermi level. As a result, the Nd-substituted LaFeO₃ electrocatalyst, particularly La₀.₆Nd₀.₄FeO₃ nanoparticles, exhibits excellent OER performance with an impressively low overpotential of 179 mV for 10 mA cm⁻². This study provides both experimental and theoretical evidence towards linking chemical pressure effects and oxygen vacancy formation in Nd substituted LaFeO₃ perovskites. Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Nanoparticles Scientific community and society/Energy and society/Energy conservation Nd-substituted LaFeO3 Perovskite oxides Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) Chemical pressure Density function Theory (DFT) Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupportingInformation.docx SUPPLEMENTARY AND ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8431296","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":564540541,"identity":"51876c6e-f6c2-4915-b24f-69dee64c57e0","order_by":0,"name":"Deepash 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However, precise control and a clear understanding of their active phases remain elusive. In this work, we demonstrate the effect of chemical pressure-induced strain through controlled substitution of isovalent La-site with Nd in sol-gel auto combustion-derived LaFeO₃ nanoparticles on the OER activities. Substitution of the smaller atom, Nd, at the La-site in LaFeO₃ generates inward chemical pressure, leading to the shrinkage of the LaFeO₃ lattice. This chemical pressure effect promotes the formation of oxygen vacancies and thereby tailors the Fe as an active site to significantly boost OER performance. Raman spectroscopy validates the structural distortion induced by chemical pressure in Nd-substituted LaFeO₃. Theoretical calculations reveal that Nd substitution at the La site shifts the band edges closer to the Fermi level. 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