A novel technique for the preparation of highly dispersed rare-earth perovskite LaCoO3 catalysts was developed. Using the conventional complexation and pyrolysis methods, an etchable component, zinc oxide (ZnO), was introduced into the precursor by adding zinc nitrate during preparation. After calcination, the independent ZnO phase was extracted by an aqueous NH4Cl solution, resulting in well-dispersed LaCoO3 catalysts with a surface area of over 30 m(2)/g. DTA-reaction tests using CO oxidation as the model reaction were performed as a quick means to illustrate the higher catalytic oxidation activities of the prepared LaCoO3 catalysts mainly due to their high surface area.