Investigation of perovskite catalysts BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 for the oxidative coupling of methane

In this study, perovskite BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 catalysts were prepared using the sol-gel method for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). Characterization of catalysts was investigated by X-ray diffraction for crystal properties, physical N2 adsorption to determine specific surface area, and temperature-programmed techniques to examine the redox properties and acid–base strength. The results showed that at any reaction temperature, the methane conversion of BaTiO3 was consistently higher than that of SrTiO3. This may caused by BaTiO3’s better reducibility detected by H2-TPR experiments. Moreover, the selectivity of BaTiO3 (25 – 30%) was much greater than that of SrTiO3. Perhaps the abundant lattice oxygen may explain the excellent C2H4 selectivity obtained for BaTiO3.