Effect of preparation method and B-side metal type on the physicochemical properties of LaBO3 perovskite catalyst and its catalytic behaviour in the biomass pyrolysis

Abstract

Although perovskites are extensively investigated in many areas, studies using perovskites as catalysts for biomass pyrolysis are still quite limited. While various transition metals can be inserted into perovskites to form different perovskites, it is critical to investigate the effects of various transition metallic substituents on the characterization of catalysts. This work involves the evaluation of nine perovskite-type catalysts in terms of their effectiveness and suitability for pyrolysis of date stone biomass. LaCoO3, LaMnO3 and LaNiO3 perovskite catalysts were prepared by sol-gel, hydrothermal and microwave methods and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and surface area measurement. Pyrolysis of date stones has been performed in tubular reactor at 520 °C with 100 °C/min and a nitrogen gas flow rate of 100 cm3/min. The influences of catalyst preparation method on catalytic cracking of pyrolysis vapours in terms of bio-oil yields were examined. Additionally, the effect of B metal in ABO3 perovskite structure on catalyst character and pyrolysis yields were examined in detail. According to results, highest bio-oil yield was achieved as 23.4% with LaMnO3 catalyst synthesized with sol-gel method. All perovskite-type catalysts have reduced the bio-oil yield and improved the water and gaseous yield as expected. This study paves the way for developing more challenging perovskite catalysts for the renewable energy sources.