Catalytic Properties of Double Substituted Lanthanum Cobaltite Nanostructured Coatings Prepared by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Lanthanum perovskites are promising candidates to replace platinum group metal (PGM), especially regarding catalytic oxidation reactions. We have prepared thin catalytic coatings of Sr and Ag doped lanthanum perovskite by using the cathodic co-sputtering magnetron method in reactive condition. Such development of catalytic films may optimize the surface/bulk ratio to save raw materials, since a porous coating can combine a large exchange surface with the gas phase with an extremely low loading. The sputtering deposition process was optimized to generate crystallized and thin perovskites films on alumina substrates. We found that high Ag contents has a strong impact on the morphology of the coatings. High Ag loadings favor the growth of covering films with a porous wire-like morphology showing a good catalytic activity for CO oxidation. The most active composition displays similar catalytic performances than those of a Pt film. In addition, this porous coating is also efficient for CO and NO oxidation in a simulated Diesel exhaust gas mixture, demonstrating the promising catalytic properties of such nanostructured thin sputtered perovskite films.