Low-temperature reduction of NOx with NH3 using a hybrid system of non-thermal plasma- LaMn0.9CO0.1O3 perovskite nanocatalyst

The catalytic reduction of NOx at low temperatures presents a significant challenge, which can potentially be overcome by integrating plasma into the process. Porous perovskites emerge as promising catalysts for plasma- assisted NOx removal. In this study, perovskite catalysts LaMnO3 and LaMn0.9Co0.1O3 were synthesized using the auto-combustion sol-gel method with different fuels and subsequently evaluated for their efficiency in plasma- catalytic NOx removal in the presence of NH3. Analyses including XRD, BET, FESEM, TEM, FTIR, DRS, and TGA indicated that while the samples exhibited similar crystal sizes, they displayed varying levels of defects. Notably, the LaMn0.9Co0.1O3 catalyst synthesized with citric acid as the fuel (designated as LMC-Ci) demonstrated a highly porous and homogenous network structure, characterized by cubic-spherical particles measuring 20-30 nm, as corroborated by the XRD data. The co-substitution of cobalt in LaMnO3 enhanced light absorption, enabling the catalyst to effectively utilize ultraviolet photons produced by the plasma. Among the evaluated catalysts, LMC-Ci achieved the highest activity, resulting in a 98 % removal rate of NOx. The study further examined the influence of operational parameters, including discharge time, temperature, space velocity, and specific input energy, on the performance of the selected catalyst, revealing that plasma presence significantly reduced the operating temperature to 80 degrees C.