Preparation of nanosized anosized GdCoO3 powder using amorphous heteronuclear complex as a precursor

Nanosized GdCoO
3
cobaltite oxide powder with perovskite structure was successfully synthesized at a relative low calcination temperature using an amorphous heteronuclear complex, GdCo(DTPA) • 6H
2
O, as a precursor. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that the precursor corrpletely decomposed into cobaltite oxide above 400°C. X-ray photoelection spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the decomposed species was composed of GdCoO
3
cobaltite oxide after the precursor was calcined at 500°C for 2 h. X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that nanosized GdCoO
3
crystalline powder with perovskite structure was formed after the calcination temperature was increased to 650°C. The GdCoO
3
grain size increased linearly from 20 nm to 50 nm when the calcination temperature was increased from 500°C to 800°C, and the grain size increased from 10 nm to 30 nm when the precursor was calcined at 500°C for 1 to 8 h.