A facile strategy to prepare Pr³⁺ doped Pr_xLa_2-xO₃/SnO₂ hybrid nanocomposites for energy storage applications

In the current study, sol-gel auto combustion was used to synthesize Pr³⁺ ion doped Pr_xLa_2-xO₃/SnO₂ nanocomposites. The synthesized samples with their crystalline structures were examined using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Using the Scherrer formula, the crystallite size is determined to be 6.34 to 7.03 nm. It was observed that the lattice constant down to decrease with increasing the Pr³⁺ ion concentrations. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) verified the morphology of nanocomposites and revealed that the average particle size was measured between 13 and 20 nm. Impedance analysis of synthetic samples was performed in the applied frequency ranging from 1 MHz to 3 GHz using impedance analyzer. The impact of Pr³⁺ ion doping on different parameters such as impedance, electric modulus, dielectric constant, tangent loss and AC conductivity were examined. These plots assist in analyzing relaxation phenomena which was found due to hoping mechanism. The conductive nature of grain boundaries at high frequencies led to a decrease in impedance with frequency. Semicircles in Cole-Cole plot indicates different relaxation time. Moreover, incomplete semicircles provide conclusive proof of relaxation in the materials that is non-Debye in nature. According to the findings, the synthesized nanocomposites can be used in microwave or energy storage devices.