Lanthanum ferromanganites thin films by sol-gel process. Influence of the organic/inorganic R ratio on the microstructural properties

Strontium-substituted lanthanum ferromanganites, La0.8Sr0.2Mn1−yFeyO3+δ (y=0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1), LSMF2Y (Y=10y) for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathode applications have been synthetized by a polymeric sol-gel route and deposited on YSZ substrates by a dip-coating process. The influence of the sol synthesis parameters (metal composition, organic and metal salt concentrations) on the thin film microstructure has been investigated. In this study, it has been shown that the organic/inorganic ratio, called R, appears as a key parameter to control the microstructural properties of final coatings.