Synthesis and catalytic performance of macroporous La1-Ce CoO3 perovskite oxide catalysts with high oxygen mobility for catalytic combustion of soot

Effect of ball milling time on Sr0.7Sm0.3Fe0.4Co0.6O2.65 perovskites and their application as semiconductor layers in dye-sensitized solar cells

The practical utilization of TiO2 as a semiconductor in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been set back by poor visible light absorption, high charge carrier recombination, and low electrical conductivity, which reduce the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and sustainability of the device. In this respect, perovskites with excellent properties, such as large surface area, good optical properties, high electrical conductivity, and superior electrochemical stability, have recently emerged as promising alternatives capable of overcoming the drawbacks of TiO2. Herein, Sr0.7Sm0.3Fe0.4Co0.6O2.65 (SSFC) perovskites were prepared via the ball milling method at various milling times of 0, 5, and 10 h, and the obtained samples were denoted by SSFC-0, SSCF-5, and SSCF-10, respectively. Increasing the ball milling time led to a significant reduction in nanoparticle size and agglomeration, which, in turn, increased the surface area and electrical conductivity of the samples. As a consequence, the SSFC-10 perovskite exhibited the smallest average particle sizes (18.9 nm) with the largest surface area (61.8 m2 g-1) and minimum defects, which allowed for efficient electron transport, resulting in the best electrical conductivity of 49.8 S cm-1. Ultimately, DSSCs fabricated using SSFC-10 semiconductor layers achieved an optimum PCE of 6.01 %, which is an improvement of 8.67 %, 1.1 %, and 6.56 % for SSFC-0 (3.69 %), SSFC-5 (4.96 %), and TiO2 (5.64 %), respectively. Thus, varying the ball milling time can be used as an effective technique to tailor the physicochemical properties of SSFC to suit desired applications, particularly the fabrication of highly efficient and sustainable DSSC semiconductor layers.

Evolution hydrothermal aging mechanism for Ag/CeO2 catalysts in regeneration of catalytic diesel particulate filter with DFT calculation

In order to avoid the high cost of existing precious metal catalyst like Pt, Ag/CeO₂ was the most promising catalysts for mobile source soot emission control technologies, but there was a clear trade-off between hydrothermal aging resistance and catalytic oxidation performance hindered the application of this catalyst. In order to reveal the hydrothermal aging mechanism of Ag/CeO₂ catalysts, the TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) experiments were investigated to reveal the mechanism of Ag modification on catalytic activity of CeO₂ catalyst between fresh and hydrothermal aging and were also characterized with the related characterization experiments to in-depth research the lattice morphology and valence changes. The degradation mechanism of Ag/CeO₂ catalysts in vapor with high-temperature was also explained and demonstrated based on density functional and molecular thermodynamics theories. The experimental and simulation data showed that the catalytic activity of soot combustion within Ag/CeO₂ decreased more significantly after hydrothermal aging than CeO₂ due to the less agglomerated, which caused by the decreased in O_II/O_I and Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺ compared with CeO₂. As shown in density function theory (DFT) calculation, the decreased surface energy and the increased oxygen vacancy formation energy of the low Mille index surface after Ag modification led to the instability structure and the high catalytic activity. Ag modification also increased the adsorption energy and Gibbs free energy of H₂O on the low Miller index surface compared to CeO₂, indicating that the desorption temperature of H₂O molecules in (1 1 0) and (1 0 0) was higher than (1 1 1) in CeO₂ and Ag/CeO₂, which led to the migration of (1 1 1) crystal surfaces to (1 1 0) and (1 0 0) in the vapor environment. These conclusions can provide a valuable addition to the regenerative application of Ce-based catalysts in diesel exhaust aftertreatment system the aerial pollution.

Influences of Co-Content on the Physico-Chemical and Catalytic Properties of Perovskite GdCoxFe1−xO3 in CO Hydrogenation

The effect of the substitution of cobalt into the GdFeO3 perovskite structure on the selective hydrogenation of CO was investigated. A series of GdCoxFe1−xO3 (x = 0; 0.2; 0.5; 0.8; 1) samples were synthesized by sol-gel technology and characterized by XRD, BET specific area, DSC, TG, EDX and XPS. The experimental data made it possible to reveal a correlation between the state of iron and cobalt atoms, the fractions of surface and lattice oxygen, and catalytic characteristics. It has been found that varying the composition of GdCoxFe1−xO3 complex oxides leads to a change in the oxygen-metal binding energy in Gd-O-Me, the ratio of metals in various oxidation states, and the amount of surface and lattice oxygen, which affects the adsorption and catalytic characteristics of complex oxides.

The decisive factor of hollow spherical network morphology of Nd1-xCexCo1-yCuyO3±δ perovskites towards soot oxidation

The perovskites Nd1-xCexCo1-yCuyO3 (x = 0–0.05, y = 0–0.1) have been synthesized using PVP-assisted sol–gel method and applied for soot oxidation reactions. XRD technique reveals the formation of orthorhombic phase with crystal volume of around ~ 214 Å3 and crystal size of ~ 25–40 nm. The interconnected nanoparticles with hollow spherical network morphology of particles are observed for the samples NdCoO3 (NC1) and Nd0.98Ce0.02Co0.95Cu0.05O3 (NC2) with particle sizes of around 300–500 nm. The samples experienced a charge transfer from ligand (O2−) to cobalt cation in UV region (210–260 nm) and also observed broad absorption bands in the visible region (380–600 nm). In addition, the bandgap energy of NC2 showed the lowest value (4.21 eV); as well as surface morphological advantage promoted the transport of surface-chemisorbed oxygen species in the inner and outer surface of catalysts surface due to the reducibility of the catalyst with the soot $$\left( {\frac{{{\text{O}}_{2}^{{{\text{x}} - }} }}{{{\text{O}}_{2}^{{{\text{x}} - }} + {\text{O}}^{2 - } }} = 0.90} \right)$$ O 2 x - O 2 x - + O 2 - = 0.90 . Furthermore, XPS results evidenced the higher content of Co2+ cation upon substitution of Ce/Cu into NC1, which successively formed more amount of Oβ-oxygen species. Remarkably, the perovskite NC2 showed the lowest soot oxidation temperature (T50% = 434 °C) among the investigated perovskites. Besides, the spherically networked morphology of NC2/NC1 samples also decided the soot oxidation process.

Facile One-Step Flame Synthesis of La1−xSrxMnO3 Nanoparticles for CO Catalytic Oxidation

A large amount of CO as hazardous emission in the iron ore sintering process has caused severe harm to the environment and human health. To control the emission of CO more effectively, the preparation of highly efficient catalysts has attracted much attention. In this study, the La1-xSrxMnO3 (0 ≤ x < 1) perovskite catalysts with different Sr2+ contents were prepared by the one-step flame synthesis method to treat CO pollutants in the iron and steel industry. The influence of Sr2+ doping on the structure and activity of catalytic were characterized and analyzed. La1-xSrxMnO3 perovskite catalysts exhibit good perovskite phases and loose spherical structures. The specific surface areas are between 4.1 and 12.0 m2 g−1. Combined with the results of H2-TPR and O2-TPD, the improvement of catalytic activity of La1-xSrxMnO3 perovskite can be attributed to the high concentration of active centers and oxygen vacancies. Significantly, the La0.4Sr0.6MnO3 catalyst presented the best reducibility and high content of absorbed active oxygen species, leading to a superior CO oxidation catalytic activity and reaches 50% CO conversion at 134.9°C and 90% at 163.2°C, respectively. The effects of water vapor and CO2 on the oxidation activity of La1-xSrxMnO3 perovskite was investigated. The flame-produced catalysts exhibit favorable catalytic stability and antisintering ability, achieving 100% CO conversion after fifth consecutive oxidation cycles.

Preparation of Supported Perovskite Catalyst to Purify Membrane Concentrate of Coal Chemical Wastewater in UV-Catalytic Wet Hydrogen Peroxide Oxidation System

The effective treatment of membrane concentrate is a major technical challenge faced by the new coal chemical industry. In this study, a supported perovskite catalyst LaCoO3/X was prepared by a sol-impregnation two-step method. The feasibility of the supported perovskite catalyst LaCoO3/X in the UV-catalytic wet hydrogen peroxide oxidation (UV-CWPO) system for the purification of concentrated liquid of coal chemical wastewater was investigated. The effects of catalyst support, calcination temperature, calcination time, and re-use time on catalytic performance were investigated by batch experiments. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Experimental results showed that the supported perovskite catalyst LaCoO3/CeO2 prepared using CeO2 as support, calcination temperature of 800 °C, and calcination time of 8 h had the best catalytic effect. The catalytic performance of the catalyst remained excellent after seven cycles. The best prepared catalyst was used in UV-CWPO of coal chemical wastewater membrane concentrate. The effects of H2O2 dosage, reaction temperature, reaction pressure, and catalyst dosage on UV-CWPO were determined. Under the conditions of H2O2 dosage of 40 mM, reaction temperature of 120 °C, reaction pressure of 0.5 MPa, catalyst dosage of 1 g/L, pH of 3, and reaction time of 60 min, the removal efficiencies of COD, TOC, and UV254 were 89.7%, 84.6%, and 98.1%, respectively. Under the optimal operating conditions, the oxidized effluent changed from high toxicity to non-toxicity, the BOD5/COD increased from 0.02 to 0.412, and the biodegradability of the oxidized effluent was greatly improved. The catalyst has a simple synthesis procedure, excellent catalytic performance, and great potential in the practical application of coal chemical wastewater treatment.

Experimental Evaluation on the Catalytic Activity of a Novel CeZrK/rGO Nanocomposite for Soot Oxidation in Catalyzed Diesel Particulate Filter

A nanostructured solid solution catalyst CeZrK/rGO for soot oxidation in catalyzed diesel particulate filter was synthesized using the dipping method. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was used as the catalyst carrier, and CeO2, ZrO2, and K2O were mixed with the molar ratio of 5:1:1, 5:2:2 and 5:3:3, which were referred to as Ce5Zr1K1/rGO, Ce5Zr2K2/rGO, and Ce5Zr3K3/rGO, respectively. The structure, morphology and catalytic activity of the CeZrK/rGO nanocomposites were thoroughly investigated and the results show that the CeZrK/rGO nanocomposites have nanoscale pore structure (36.1–36.9 nm), high-dispersion quality, large specific surface area (117.2–152.4 m2/g), small crystallite size (6.7–8.3 nm), abundant oxygen vacancies and superior redox capacity. The 50% soot conversion temperatures of Ce5Zr1K1/rGO, Ce5Zr2K2/rGO, and Ce5Zr3K3/rGO under tight contact condition were decreased to 352 °C, 339 °C and 358 °C respectively. The high catalytic activity of CeZrK/rGO nanocomposites can be ascribed to the following factors: the doping of Zr and K ions causes the nanocrystalline phase formation in CeZrK solid solutions, reduces the crystallite size, generates abundant oxygen vacancies and improves redox capacity; the rGO as a carrier provides a large specific surface area, thereby improving the contact between soot and catalyst.

Catalytic oxidation of high-concentration CO over La0.9M0.1CoO3 (M = Ce, Sr) facilely promoted by glucose

Addition of glucose and introduction of Ce/Sr into LaCoO3 can create more oxygen vacancies and Co3+ active sites, facilitating the catalytic activity for CO oxidation.