Synthesis and Characterization of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ Nanostructures for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ (LSM) perovskite was synthesized using different methods, such as solid state reaction, soft-chemical and sol-gel methods for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for use as a cathode material. The pristine material was charac-terized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction results show that the pure phase of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ (LSM) perovskite was formed at 1250˚C. Scanning electron microscopy characterization shows that a highly porous material can be ob-tained using a soft-chemical method with different 3,3’,3”-nitrilotripropionic acid ( NTP) to metal-ion ratio R