Enhancement of catalytic N2O decomposition by modulating oxygen vacancies over Cu/Ce1-XYX catalysts

Abstract

We reformed Cu supported on Ce-Y via CeO2-Y2O3 solid solution to improve the activity in catalytic N2O decomposition. Catalysts with different Ce/Y molar ratios were used in all experiments and analytic techniques. Cu/Ce0.5Y0.5 achieved the highest activity. Up to Ce/Y molar ratio = 1, the activation energy required for N2O decomposition decreased but markedly increased when the Y2O3 lattice was the support by an excess of Y loading. The number of sites accessible to N2O and surface oxygen vacancies increased with Y species loading. However, the activity of Cu/Ce0.1Y0.9, Y2O3-based catalysts, decreased due to the difficulty of releasing O2 from its strong affinity with O2. Proper incorporation of Ce-Y enhanced the N2O decomposition activity by modulating the number of oxygen vacancies while maintaining the CeO2 lattice.