Catalysts are necessary to oxidize volatile organic compounds to keep the air clean. Perovskites have shown decent catalysis, but to make them more reactive they are often paired with supports chemically. The purpose of this work was to determine if it is necessary to pair them chemically or if they could be mixed physically after the perovskite was synthesized, lessening synthesis time and resources. The LaMnO3 perovskite and the supported perovskites were synthesized by citrate sol-gel methods. XRD showed that the LaMnO3 catalyst fit the reference pattern of the expected LaMnO3 and that the YSZ (Yttria-stabilized zirconia) supported perovskite contained both LaMnO3 and YSZ. The XRD of the TiO2 supported perovskite did not show the perovskite, potentially due to a noisy pattern or the lack of production of the perovskite. The catalytic abilities of the catalysts were tested by toluene oxidation. The LaMnO3 was also tested with the supports mixed physically to test if the supports assist the perovskite the same way when they are not chemically attached to it. Both supports raised the rate of the activity of the catalyst on average, both when physically mixed and when added during the synthesis process. Both chemically supported perovskites raised the reaction rates per gram of LaMnO3 more than the physical mixtures did. Adding the supports physically does not seem as effective as adding them during the synthesis, but it can be a helpful test to see if they raise the reactivity of the catalyst before synthesizing a new catalyst, using less time and resources than synthesizing a new catalyst that may not work. However, more testing must be done to obtain more conclusive results using similar ratios of catalyst to support in the physical mixture as in the chemically supported perovskite to determine their compared efficacies.

Synthesis and characterization of LaMnO3 perovskite-based catalysts

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.