Designing surfaces of multimetal oxides for catalysis: Quality or quantity?

Venerdì 4 ottobre 2019
Ore 14.30
Sala Seminari, Piano I, Edificio U5 – via Roberto Cozzi 55, Milano

Relatore: Simone Mascotto - Institute of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg

Titolo: Designing surfaces of multimetal oxides for catalysis: Quality or quantity?

Abstract. The development of cost-effective, efficient of pollution abatement technologies covers a key role in nowadays society. An optimal catalyst for these applications should be highly active, stable and comprised of earth-abundant materials. In these regards, perovskite oxide family with general formula ABO₃ is a favorable class of materials, thanks to their structural flexibility and ease in accommodating non-stoichiometry.
In this talk, the development of synthesis strategies that encompass variation of chemical composition, material morphology and defect structure of perovskite oxide catalysts is presented.
Chemically complex mesoporous perovskite oxides were prepared by La- and Fe- co-substitution in the SrTiO₃ lattice to form La_0.3Sr_0.7Ti_1-xFe_xO₃±δ solid solutions with a composition variation between 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5. The choice of cationic substituents was based on the compromise between stability and catalytic performance. Porosity and nanostructure tuning of SrTiO₃-based systems were realized through a straightforward inorganic endotemplating route integrated into a polymer complex synthesis. Finally, the consolidation of SrTiO₃-based nanoparticles by electric field-assisted treatments determined significant modification of the point defect structure of the materials along with their conductivity mechanism, thus resulting in high surface reactivity and improve catalytic performance.
This multistep material development perspective aims to present the preparation of oxide architecture with tunable functional properties as a forward-looking strategy towards catalysts with higher performance.