In this paper, we describe the synthesis of tailormade cobalt and manganese oxides by a two-step preparation method. The first step consists of precipitating metal alkoxide powders from aliphatic polyalcohol solutions of salts. Their particle size, composition, and morphology can be independently tuned by controlling the precipitation conditions (type of alcohol and concentration). The second step involves thermal decomposition under air, leading to crystalline metal oxides, whose specific surface area and crystallite size can be adjusted by a careful selection of the alcohol used and the annealing temperature. More specifically, we found that the crystallite size of these oxides is determined by the amount of heat released during the combustion of the organic component. Since the size and morphology of the precursors are strictly maintained during the pyrolysis treatment, we can therefore achieve an accurate control of the different aspects of the texture of metal oxide powders. Preliminary results show that this approach can be successfully extended to bimetallic phases.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.