Strontium-Doped Lanthanum Cobaltite and Manganite: Highly Active Catalysts for Toluene Complete Oxidation

La 1− x Sr x MO 3−δ (M = Co, Mn; x = 0, 0.4) catalysts have been fabricated via a strategy of citric acid complexing and hydrothermal treatment. The oxidation of toluene was used as a probe reaction for the evaluation of catalytic performance. The materials were characterized by a number of techniques. We observed that the catalytic activity (evaluated by the temperature required for 80% conversion of toluene, T 80% ) increased in the sequence of LaMnO 3.10 ( T 80% = 295 °C) < LaCoO 2.89 ( T 80% = 246 °C) < La 0.6 Sr 0.4 MnO 3.03 ( T 80% = 233 °C) < La 0.6 Sr 0.4 CoO 2.76 ( T 80% = 219 °C) at toluene/O 2 molar ratio = 1/400 and space velocity = 20 000 h −1 . Moreover, CO 2 and H 2 O were the only products for toluene oxidation over the catalysts. It is concluded that factors such as enriched structural defects (oxygen vacancies) and good Mn 4+ /Mn 3+ or Co 3+ /Co 2+ redox ability are responsible for the excellent catalytic performance of the La 1− x Sr x MO 3−δ nanomaterials.