In this work, a series of cesium (Cs) modified metal
oxide (Co3O4, CuO, Mn2O3, and NiO)
catalysts were synthesized and investigated for N2O catalytic
decomposition. More than 95% N2O conversion was obtained
with the Cs-supported Co3O4 (Cs/Co) catalyst
at 300 °C, but only a slight increase or even suppression was
obtained with the other catalysts. The activation energy (E
a) varied significantly for Cs modified catalysts.
It was found that both of N2O adsorption–dissociation
(from N2O-TPD) and O2 desorption capacities
(from O2-TPD) were highly correlated with the N2O decomposition activity. Highly optimized N2O activation
and O2 desorption capacities contributed to the boosting
performance of the Cs/Co catalyst. Moreover, the improved electron
transfer property inferred from H2-temperature-programmed
reduction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was likely to facilitate
the reaction processes and promote N2O catalytic decomposition
performance.