Abstract
Herein, we report on the synthesis of mixed-metal oxides of the ABO3 form. These structures are known as perovskites. Taking their name from Lev Perovski, their discoverer. With the ABO3 structure, perovskites can be composed of a variety of metal combinations. In the ABO3 structure, the A position is usually group I or II or a lanthanide cation and the B position is mostly occupied by the transition metal cation, where O denotes the oxygen atom. We made use of the first-row transition metals, i.e. cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) to synthesize lanthanum (La) based perovskites via the nanocasting technique, using KIT-6 as a template, for use in selective catalytic conversion of cinnamaldehyde to hydrocinnamaldehyde. We also made use of the assynthesized perovskites as active catalytic supports for immobilization of palladium nanoparticles (Pd-NPs) using deposition-precipitation method. The activity of perovskites when used as catalysts without the Pd NPs was just below 30% conversion of the cinnamaldehyde. One interesting factor to note is the maximum selectivity they achieved, 100% selectivity towards hydrocinnamaldehyde. Considering the short reaction time, 3 h, these perovskite-type catalysts can be considered the alternatives to the rapidly-depleting platinum group metals (PGMs). ..
M.Sc. (Chemistry)