Catalytic N2O decomposition over La(Sr)FeO3 perovskites

In this study, La 1−x Sr x FeO 3 perovskites with x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0 have been synthesized via a sol gel auto-combustion method using glycine as fuel. All materials were characterized with x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), N 2 porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and O 2 Temperature programmed adsorption- desorption (O 2 /TPA-D). The catalytic activity of perovskites was tested for the decomposition of N 2 O to N 2 and O 2 as a probe reaction in a bench scale plug flow reactor. The most active catalyst was La 0.75 Sr 0.25 FeO 3 and the catalytic activity is strongly correlated to the amount of the reverse oxygen uptake from the perovskite structure. According to the N 2 O decomposition mechanism the slow and rate determining step was found to be the dissociation of N 2 O adsorbed on the surface of catalyst as N 2 O ( ads ) - .