Determination of the bulk cobalt valence state of co-perovskites containing surface-adsorbed impurities

We used thermogravimetric hydrogen reduction and iodometric titration to determine the bulk valence state of cobalt in Co-perovskites containing surface carbonate hydroxide or hydroxyl groups. It could be shown that thermogravimetric hydrogen reduction experiments are very sensitive to volatile surface groups, but due to their volatility, they can be specified and the bulk valence state of cobalt can still be deduced from these experiments. The iodometric titration is less sensitive to small volatile surface impurities, but precaution has to be taken that oxygen or iodine does not escape from the solution during dissolution of the sample. Best results were obtained if the sample was titrated during dissolution in a closed argon floated titration apparatus. We tested the two methods using LaCoO3 perovskite as a sample with a known valence state. Both methods delivered satisfactory results, and the valence state could be determined with an accuracy of better than 1%.