La_0.6Ca_0.4CoO₃ Perovskite Nanofibers by Electrospinning: Preparation and Properties

Perovskite nanofibers offer a unique combination of structural and functional advantages by uniting the high-surface area, flexibility, and directional geometry of nanofibers with the exceptional optoelectronic and catalytic properties of perovskite materials. In this work, La_0.6Ca_0.4CoO₃ (LCC) perovskite nanofiberswhose synthesis has not previously been reported in the literaturewere successfully synthesized via electrospinning. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was used as the carrier polymer, and an optimization identified an electrospinning solution containing 7 wt % PAN and LCC precursors at a PAN/LCC ratio of 1:1 as the ideal composition. The nanofibers fixed onto a ceramic pellet and calcined at 700 °C exhibited a uniform and continuous one-dimensional morphology with an average fiber diameter of 578 nm. Stable LCC phase formation was confirmed by FTIR, TGA, and XRD analyses, and phase identification further verified that the calcined nanofibers crystallized into a rhombohedral perovskite structure. XPS analysis revealed that surface oxygen vacancy concentrations varied with calcination temperature, and significant segregation occurred at elevated temperatures. According to the BET measurements, the specific surface area of the nanofibers increased along with pore size and pore volume upon calcination. Overall, these results demonstrate that LCC perovskite nanofibers with high-surface area, nanoscale diameter, one-dimensional architecture, and tunable oxygen vacancy concentrations can be obtained, highlighting their strong potential for applications in energy conversion, gas sensing, catalysis, and intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.