The precursor La2Ni0.75Co0.25O4.08 was prepared by solid state synthesis. Stoichiometric amounts of La2O3 (Alfa Aesar, 99.9 %, pre-dried at 1200 °C for 12 hrs before use), NiO (Sigma Aldrich, 99.99 %, pre-dried at 700 °C for 12 hrs before use), Co3O4 (Alfa Aesar, 99.99 %) were ball milled for 1 hr with the rotational speed of 600 rpm using a small amount of isopropanol as a dispersing agent in ZrO2 jars. The mixture was placed in a crucible made of corundum and reacted at 1450 °C for 24 hrs under a flow of Argon (99.9 %, 0.4 SLM (standard litre per minute) flow), with heating / cooling rates of 2 / 1 °C/minute respectively.