STUDIES OF THE FORMATION AND REDUCTION OF A MIXED 3-DIMENSIONAL PEROVSKITE OF COPPER AND TITANIUM

We report differential scanning calorimetric analyses of several react ions leading to the formation of the mixed perovskite La2CuTiO6. The s ynthesis of this oxide was carried out following three different strat egies: i) classical ceramic methods, ii) use of a layered oxide precur sor (La2CuO4), and iii) sol-gel method. Electron diffraction and neutr on diffraction data on the sol-gel product complete the structural cha racterization of this oxide, which presents an orthorhombically distor ted perovskite structure of the GdFeO3 type, with a distortion proport ional to the temperature of synthesis. Neutron diffraction shows no lo ng-range order of Cu(II) and Ti(IV) in the structure. Finally, the red uction of this perovskite to yield La2CuTiO5 is reported.