Magnetic and optical properties of perovskite-graphene nanocomposites LaFeO₃-rGO: Experimental and DFT calculations

Abstract

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the perovskite-graphene nanocomposites LaFeO3 – rGO, where we demonstrate a easy way to prepare this compound using citrate auto-compulsion method, starting from corresponding metal nitrate and graphene oxide solution. The Hummer’s method was used to prepare graphene oxide by chemical exfoliation of graphite. The structural characterization has been performed using XRD, FT-IR and scanning electron microscope (SEM) to analyze the morphology of the sample, FT-IR, whereas the magnetic properties has been studied using VSM measurements. Furthermore, ab-initio calculations has been performed based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT), where for a better description of the electronic and magnetic properties, the Hubbard correction was considered over the General Gradient Approximation (GGA + U).