Catalytic decomposition of N2O over cobalt based spinel oxides: The role of additives

Abstract Catalytic activity at temperature below 400 °C for N 2 O decomposition was investigated over catalysts based on cobalt oxidesynthesized by a co-precipitation and impregnation method. The characteristicsof the catalysts were assessed by XRD, BET, H 2 -TPR, O 2 -TPD, and XPS techniques, and the catalytic activity for N 2 O decomposition was examined in the presence of O 2 and H 2 O. In general, it was observed that the catalytic activity was enhanced by the increase of surface area and redox ability of the catalyst. In particular, the N 2 O conversion of K/Co 3 O 4 was notably higher than that of pure Co 3 O 4 , while the Co-CeO 2 catalyst slightly improved the activity. The K/Co-CeO 2 catalyst decomposed 100% of N 2 O at 375 °C reaction temperature without O 2 and H 2 O in the reaction gas stream, and this value was lowered to 95.7% with the presence of O 2 and H 2 O.