Sol-gel synthesis, solid sintering, and thermal stability of single-phase YCoO3

Using Y(NO3)3·6H2O and Co(NO3)2·6H2O as the starting materials, the single‐phase YCoO3 has been synthesized by a two‐step process involving a sol–gel technique and a sintering method. The structure, electromagnetic properties, and thermal stability of the synthesized samples were measured by XRD, thermogravimmetry and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA), TEM, and vibration sample magnetometer (VSM). The experimental results show that the synthesis conditions of the single‐phase YCoO3 are 900–950 °C for 10 h in air. And the synthesis temperature is extended to 900–1000 °C and the sintering time is shortened to 5 h in an oxygen atmosphere. The synthesized powders have orthorhombic structure, with a diameter of ∼30 nm, which is stable in air below 1050 °C and in oxygen atmosphere below 1100 °C. Above those temperatures, YCoO3 decomposes into Y2O3 and Co3O4.