Enhanced Thermochemical Water Splitting through Formation of Oxygen Vacancy in La0.6 Sr0.4 BO3-δ (B=Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) Perovskites.

Oxygen vacancies in catalyst systems play a crucial role in manipulating pivotal redox properties that are strongly dependent on the composition of the material. Herein, for the first time, experimental evidence of a linear correlation between the extent of oxygen vacancy formation in the La0.6 Sr0.4 BO3 (B=Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) perovskite series and H2 generation in two-step thermochemical water splitting is reported, with detailed materials characterization by means of thermogravimetric analysis, XRD, SEM, TEM, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Noteworthy O2 (718 μmol g-1 ) and H2 (514 μmol g-1 ) production was achieved by the La0.6 Sr0.4 CoO3 perovskite in the thermochemical water-splitting process conducted between 1300 and 900 °C.