Formation and Soot Combustion of Honeycomb-Like LaFeO3 Microfibers

The nanocrystalline, honeycomb-like, perovskite LaFeO3 microfibers with a fibre diameter about 1-2 mu m and channel sizes about 180-220 nm on the cross-section were prepared by the citrate-gel process. These microfibers were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauere-Emmette-Teller (BET) method. After calcined at a low temperature of 550 degrees C for 6 hours, the single phase of perovskite LaFeO3 microfibers is formed and the grain size increases from 27 to 38 nm with the calcination temperature increasing from 500 to 650 degrees C. The catalytic activity for soot combustion was analyzed by thermo-gravimetric method (TG), and the LaFeO3 microfibers calcined at 600 degrees C exhibits the highest catalytic activity for soot combustion, with a lowest T-50 (393 degrees C) and T90 (434 degrees C). The formation mechanism of the honeycomb-like structure is analyzed and these honeycomb-like microfibers can be used as advanced catalysts, absorbents, filters and microreactors.