Abstract
The thermodynamic properties of 
and related compounds have been estimated and utilized to correlate sinterability with phase relations in the La‐M‐Cr‐O 
systems. Chemical equilibria calculations reveal that calculated vapor pressures of gaseous chromium oxides (especially 
) can be well correlated with our previous experimental results on sinterability. The poor sinterability can be ascribed to the formation of a thin layer of 
which is formed from incongruently vaporized 
at the interparticle neck during the initial stage of sintering in air. Improvement of sinterability of 
oxides can be achieved by removing this 
layer or by decreasing 
vapor pressure to prevent the formation of 
layer. These suggest that 
perovskites are the most suitable materials for high sinterability, since these materials have the low 
vapor pressure without precipitation of 
.