Synthesis of La_(0.6)Ca_(0.4)CoO_3 Compound Oxide and Its Electrocatalysis for Oxygen Reduction

La_(0.6)Ca_(0.4)CoO_3 compound oxide is synthesized by sol-gel method through high temperature calcine and microwave calcine respectively. DSC and TDA analyses of gels indicate that phase transformations complete basically at about 680℃. Based on this, X-ray diffraction pattern of gels calcined at 200℃ shows that only metal oxides and simple metals exist, and no perovskite phases appear. X-ray analyses of the powder at 700℃, 800℃ and 900℃ calcined respectively in stove show that higher temperature results in better crystallization. Comparison of X-ray diffraction between the former groups of powder and that calcined in stove at 800℃ makes it clear that perovskite-type structure formed by microwave calcining is not complete. Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) measurements reveal that the La_(0.6)Ca_(0.4)CoO_3 electrode prepared by sol-gel method has high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction in alkaline solution. Furthermore, the electrocatalysis activities of powder properly prepared by microwave calcining are much higher than that by high temperature calcine.