Perovskites of the
ABO
3
type, such as LaMnO
3
, can be used as air
electrodes in solid oxide fuel cells and electrolyzers.
Their properties can be tuned by A- and B-site substitutions. The
influence of La substitution by Ca on the oxygen nonstoichiometry
has been investigated frequently, but the results depend highly on
the synthesis and atmospheric conditions. In this work, a series of
La
1–
x
Ca
x
MnO
3+δ
(
x
= 0–0.5) was synthesized
using conventional solid-state synthesis under an air atmosphere.
The structures of the materials were studied in detail with powder
X-ray diffraction. The initial oxygen nonstoichiometries were determined
using thermogravimetric reduction. The samples were subsequently
analyzed in terms of defect chemistry in dependence of temperature,
atmosphere, and Ca content via thermogravimetric analysis. The changes
in the manganese charge states were investigated by X-ray absorption
near-edge spectroscopy experiments. The influence of intrinsic and
extrinsic effects on the Mn-valence state of the differently Ca-substituted
samples as calculated from thermogravimetric analysis and as determined
directly from X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy is presented.