Lanthanum-based perovskites obtained in molten nitrates or nitrites

Lanthanum-based perovskites, LaMO3 (where M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni), have been synthesised from lanthanum precursors and corresponding 3d transition metal salts in molten alkali metal nitrates or nitrites. The reactivity of eight precursors in three molten salts of different basicity was analysed. Single phase orthorhombic LaMnO3.11, and orthorhombic LaFeO3 have been obtained in molten NaNO2 at 723 K, for 2 h. LaCoO3 is also formed in molten nitrite, but an increase of basicity, by adding Na2O2, was necessary to obtain LaNiO3. The reaction systems were investigated by thermal analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and specific surface area measurements (BET method) were used to characterise the synthesised nanopowders.