Enhancement of N2O catalytic decomposition over Ca modified Co3O4 catalyst

Abstract

A series of Ca modified Co₃O₄ catalysts with different Ca/Co molar ratios were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and applied to N₂O catalytic decomposition. The experimental results showed that the performance of N₂O catalytic decomposition was obviously enhanced by the addition of Ca into the Co₃O₄ catalyst. The Ca modified Co₃O₄ catalyst with Ca/Co molar ratio of 1 : 2 exhibited the highest catalytic performance and almost 100% N₂O conversion was achieved at 400 °C. The characterization results showed that the addition of suitable calcium composition could promote the growth of the 111 crystal plane of Co₃O₄ and provide abundant surface oxygen on the surface of the catalyst. The kinetics studies confirmed that the activation energy of the Ca modified Co₃O₄ catalyst with Ca/Co molar ratio of 1 : 2 (E_a = 17.84 kJ mol⁻¹) was lower than that of pure Co₃O₄ (E_a = 43.21 kJ mol⁻¹), implying that the addition of Ca into the Co₃O₄ was beneficial to the catalytic decomposition of N₂O.