Perovskite Materials for Efficient Utilization of Thermal Energy

ABSTRACT Global warming is the primary concern of the world because it results in environmental damage and eventually causes serious effects on human health. Thermal energy storage and conversion systems can be opted to reduce the temperature hike caused by global warming and make effective transformation of thermal waste into electricity. Thermochemical energy storage system (TCES) show high energy density, wide operating temperature, and long‐term durability whereas thermoelectric (TE) materials are capable of doing efficient conversion of thermal energy into electricity. TCES are prominent energy storage system that offers significant heat storage capacity with minimal thermal losses. Furthermore, it reduces the greenhouse effect to sustain environment‐friendly conditions. TE systems have fairly dominant over conventional electric generators in terms of light weight, low noise pollution, small volume, and easy maintenance that could be better for thermal energy application. Perovskite materials have shown potential to be used for both TCES and TE application owing to their chemical flexibility and structural and thermal stability. They also possess tunable redox properties, high oxidation resistance and low cost. Perovskite materials are unique because of their ability to accommodate large cations of rare‐earth elements among close packed oxides. The structure of perovskites indulges partial substitution of almost all the elements on both cationic sites. They exhibit unique characteristics features such as tilt of octahedral complexes, off‐centering of octahedrally coordinated cations, and distortion of octahedral cage. The available oxygen vacancies in pervoskite compounds commence ionic transport that provides fast redox kinetics and better rate of energy storage capability. Perovskites display multiple applications in the field of electronics, geophysics, nuclear, optics, optoelectronics, environment, solar cells, catalysis, and thermal energy. In this review, the recent developments and optimization of perovskite materials for TCES and TE application are presented. Many of perovskite oxides and halides exhibit excellent performance under practical operating conditions. Recent works on complex perovskite systems for thermoelectricity and their future perspectives are highlighted. The role of perovskite compounds for efficient utilization of thermal energy has been extended and discussed. Finally, strategic approaches to improve TCES and TE parameters are emphasized.