Effect of citric acid concentration as emulsifier on perovskite phase formation of nano‐sized SrMnO3 and SrCoO3 samples

Abstract In this study the effects of citric acid concentration, used as organic emulsifier, on the perovskite phase formation of the nano strontium manganite or cobaltite samples were studied. Stoichiometric perovskites in the absence and presence of citric acid were prepared by drying a solution containing molar ratio of Sr(NO 3 ) 2 /Mn(NO 3 ) 2 ·4H 2 O and Sr(NO 3 ) 2 /Co(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O = 1 followed by calcination at 900 °C for 5 h. Citric acid concentration, selected to be 0.0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0, 1.3, 2.5 and 5 times of the total number of moles of the nitrate ions. The results revealed that increase in the citric acid concentration, larger than number of moles of the nitrate ions equivalent, deteriorates the perovskite phase formation. Instead, a new phase of carbonates and metal oxides are appeared. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)