Nickel substituted oxygen deficient nanoporous lithium ferrite based green energy device hydroelectric cell

Abstract In green energy generation, recently Hydroelectric cell (HEC) by dissociating the water molecules at room temperature has taken a big stride among other alternative green energy sources. In this work, another unique novel material Ni substituted lithium ferrite (LNFO) for the fabrication of hydroelectric cell to generate green electricity has been reported. Oxygen deficient nanoporous LNFO has been synthesised by the Solid-State reaction method. Special processing steps were taken to control oxygen defect's concentration in the ferrite by varying pre-sintering temperature during its synthesis to deliver more power output. Phase formation of nickel substituted lithium ferrite has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The porous microstructure of LNFO has been analysed by Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) micrographs, BET and DFT techniques. The presence of defects and decrease in their concentration with the increase in pre-sintering temperature has been confirmed by analysing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Hydroelectric cell fabricated using LNFO pellets pre-sintered at 750 °C and 800 °C, delivered output current densities of 3.8 mA/cm2 and 3.6 mA/cm2 respectively. The decrease in output current is attributed to reduction in defect concentration as confirmed by PL and XPS spectrum. Generated current densities are two times higher than reported in lithium substituted magnesium ferrite based hydroelectric cell (1.7 mA/cm2).