Fabrication and nano structural study on La2O3-Co3O4-ZrO2 composite

We report on the synthesis, morphology, chemically and structurally of La2O3-Co3O4-ZrO2 nanostructure. The La2O3-Co3O4-ZrO2 nanostructure was synthesized by a method based on the co-precipitation. Composite powders have been characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller). X-ray diffraction showed the formation of nano crystalline, La2Zr2O7, ZrO2, La(OH)3 and Co3O4 phases. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that nanostructure formed by increasing the calcinations temperatures. With BET and BJH (Barrett, Joyner and Halenda) method the pore size distribution was determined. The effects of chemical compositions and calcinations temperature on the surface topography and the crystallization of phases were studied. The lattice strain of nanocrystallite during thermal treatment was calculated.