Sol-gel synthesis of cubic Nb/Ta-doped SrCoO_3−δ with mixed nano-micro morphology

SrCo_0.90M_0.10O_3−δ (M = Nb, Ta) perovskite powders were synthesized by sol-gel, using tartrate-precursor decomposition. The crystal structure of these materials was analyzed by x-ray powder diffraction. Rietveld refinements showed that both samples achieved the cubic crystal structure (Pm-3m), which was stabilized by the incorporation of highly-charged transition-metal cations at the octahedral sites. This synthesis method successfully lowered the calcination temperature relative to other methods mentioned in literature. The concentration of oxygen vacancies (δ value) was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. Microstructural analysis revealed micrometric scale particles with a superficial nanometric dendritic array with an average grain size less than 100 nm. The present work provides a new strategy to synthesize nanostructured perovskite materials that could have better electrical and electrochemical properties. (paper)