Impact of calcium doping on structure, catalytic and conductive properties of lanthanum strontium iron oxide

A set of dense structure materials based on La0.5Sr0.5-xCaxFeO3 with different amount of calcium (where x varies from 0 to 0.1) were prepared. It was found that with calcium addition the hexagonal perovskite La0.5Sr0.5FeO3 structure is preserved and Ca2+ ions accommodate themselves easily in the lattice. The sintered ceramics have homogeneous microstructure and uniform grain size distribution with the average size which increases with Ca addition. Electrical properties of the sintered materials determined by the DC method revealed an increase in sample conductivity with Ca2+ doping. An increase in structure stability with the increase of calcium addition was also confirmed by the temperature-programmed studies.