Experimental and DFT Study of the Magnetic, Magnetocaloric and Thermoelectrical Properties of the Lacunar La0.9·0.1 MnO2.9 Compound

The La 0.9·0.1 MnO 2.9 compound were prepared by sol–gel method with the aim of obtaining a material with interesting magnetocaloric and thermoelectric properties. The prepared material crystallized in rhombohedric system with R-3c space group. In the magnetization vs. temperature graph, it is observed a paramagnetic (PM)-ferromagnetic (FM) transition with a Curie temperature T C of 209 K. From the fit of hysteresis cycle at 5 K, it is observed that the dominant contribution is ferromagnetic. A magnetic entropy change, calculated from the isothermal magnetization curves, was observed for the sample with a peak centered on T C . The total electronic density states (TDOS) show the coexistence of metallic behavior for spin-up states and semiconductor characteristic, with a Eg = 1.3 eV, for spin-down states. Thermoelectric properties analysis revealed promising behavior with ZT that assesses the efficacy of a compound in a thermoelectric field, reaching 1.1 at 420 K.