A novel route to synthesize nano-crystalline Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta perovskite oxide at high temperature

It is normally difficult to prepare nano-sized Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta(BSCF) oxide at high temperature due to its high surface activity. The complexing process, which has successfully applied in the synthesis of nano Sm0.15Ce0.85O1.925 with crystallite size down to 5 nm(1), just resulted in a coarse BSCF with crystallite size of 41.9 nm at 900 degrees C. We applied a novel process by simply modifying the solid precursor from the complexing process with concentrated nitric acid treatment. The obtained BSCF powder had a crystallite size of similar to 25 nm even calcined at 1000 degrees C. The small crystallite size is extremely promising to enhance the electrochemical performance of cathode for solid oxide fuel cell dramatically