Nanostructured Perovskites for Catalytic Combustion

Until recently, for reducing the environment pollution, the combustion catalysts based on noble metals was considered the most active, practically irreplaceable. Their high cost, high thermal instability, high sensitivity to deactivation and to the attack of some harm - ful elements or compounds determine the intensification of studies to replace them with new cheaper and stable catalysts. Numerous experimental data from literature indicate that the semiconductive oxidic compounds can compete with combustion catalysts based on noble metals from catalytic activity standpoint. Recent studies led to the realization of remarkable catalytic activity at moderate (350–600°C) and high (over 600°C) temperatures at some oxidic perovskite compounds, which contain transition metals. In this study are presented a series of nanostructured oxidic compounds with perovskite structure, based on transition metals and synthesized by the precursor method of self-combustion, using polyvinyl alcohol as colloidal medium, for catalytic combustion of some volatile organic compounds at low (50–350°C) and moderate temperatures. The catalytic activity of the perovskite compounds in the total oxidation reactions of the gases is largely determined by the amount of weakly bound surface oxygen species which in turn depends on the presence of oxygen vacancies.