Improvement of Catalytic Performance of Perovskites by Partial Substitution of Cations and Supporting on High Surface Area Materials

In this chapter, we present two relevant strategies to improve the activity and selectivity of perovskite-mixed oxides ABO3 in heterogeneous catalytic reactions such as the oxidation of hydrocarbons, soot combustion and CO selective oxidation, for which the surface sites and lattice oxygen species play important roles for the chemical transformations. Besides, we focus on synthesis of higher alcohols, partial oxidation of methane, oxidative reforming of diesel and dry reforming of methane for which the perovskite is a precursor that leads to a dispersed metal active phase over an oxide matrix. But which strategies are we talking about? First, the partial substitution of cations A and B by different elements, which change atomic distances, causes unit cell distortions, stabilizes multiple oxidation states or induces cationic or anionic vacancies within the lattice. And all these new features perturb the solid reactivity by changing the reaction mechanism on the catalyst surface. Thus, appropriate cations substitutions may lead to better catalysts. The second strategy comprises supporting the perovskite, which usually presents low surface area, on high surface area materials to maximize the exposed surface sites.