Investigation of Nonmetal F-doped Co3O4 as Catalyst for N2O Catalytic Decomposition

Abstract

An effective nonmetal F-doped Co₃O₄ (F-Co₃O₄) catalyst was prepared using co-precipitation method, and its catalytic performance was investigated for N₂O decomposition comparing with pure Co₃O₄ catalyst. The catalytic activity test indicates that F-Co₃O₄ catalyst exhibits better activity with 100% N₂O conversion at a reaction temperature of 380 °C, which is 80 °C lower than that of pure Co₃O₄. The characterization results show that F is successfully doped into the lattice of Co₃O₄ and replaces part of O sites, which enlarges the surface area, enhances the surface basicity, and leads to higher basic sites density on the surface of Co₃O₄. Moreover, F doping promotes the electron donation capacity of Co²⁺, weakening of Co─O bond and generation of more oxygen vacancies. The synergy of the above factors results in reduction of activation energy over F-Co₃O₄ catalyst, thus F-Co₃O₄ catalyst exhibits better catalytic performance than pure Co₃O₄ for N₂O decomposition, even in the existence of O₂ or H₂O as impurity gas. Meanwhile, F-Co₃O₄ catalyst also exhibits better stability than pure Co₃O₄. This work will provide practical reference for constructing efficient nonmetal-doped Co₃O₄ catalysts for N₂O decomposition.