A study on N2O catalytic decomposition over Co/MgO catalysts.

Different oxide supported cobalt catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation method and tested for the decomposition of nitrous oxide. Co/MgO with cobalt loading of 15% showed the best activity and a 100% N(2)O conversion was obtained at temperatures higher than 700 K. The active phase of cobalt species in Co/MgO catalysts was Co(3)O(4) highly dispersed in the matrices of MgO, based on XRD and XPS results as well as the kinetic analysis. The existence of NO, O(2) and H(2)O in reaction system showed different negative effects on N(2)O decomposition. Nevertheless, a 100% N(2)O conversion could be achieved at 800 K under simulated conditions of tail gas from nitric acid plant. Moreover, Co/MgO catalyst exhibited quite good durability and no obvious activity loss was observed in the 100 h stability test.