Solar thermocatalytic conversion of CO2 using PrxSr(1?x)MnO3?? perovskites

Abstract

The prime aim of this study was to examine the thermal reduction (TR) and CO2 splitting (CS) capacity of each PrxSr(1?x)MnO3?? (PSM) perovskite. A solution combustion synthesis (SCS) approach was applied for the synthesis of PSM perovskites wherein glycine was utilized as the fuel. As-synthesized PSM perovskites were first annealed up to 1000 °C in air and the calcined powder obtained was further analyzed using multiple characterization techniques. A high-temperature experimental set-up consisting of a Setaram SETSYS Evolution thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) was developed and utilized for the examination of the SCS derived PSM perovskites towards thermochemical CO2 splitting reactions. The obtained results indicate that the lower Pr and higher Sr atomic concentrations are beneficial to achieve the maximum amounts of O2 released (nO2) and CO produced (nCO) in each thermochemical cycle. Based on the average nO2 and nCO, the Pr0.18Sr0.80Mn0.99O2.951 (PSM2) and Pr0.39Sr0.63Mn0.98O2.979 (PSM4) were identified as the best choices for the solar thermochemical conversion of CO2. When compared with the CeO2 material (which is considered as a yardstick), the average nO2 and nCO by all the PSM perovskites was considerably higher for each cycle. - 2019 Elsevier Ltd