Catalytic Decomposition of Nitrogen Oxides by Bimetallic Catalysts Synthesized by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Technology

Abstract

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a common greenhouse gas and urgent need to be contained. Direct catalytic decomposition of N2O by high activity catalyst into N2 and O2 is a low-cost and harmless method. Bimetallic catalysts show good catalytic activity in many classes of reactions, and plasma technologies, applied to prepare of catalyst, are considered to be a promising method. In our contribution, DBD cold plasma is applied to synthesize Rhodium and Cobalt bimetallic catalysts for catalytic N2O decomposition. The influence of cobalt and rhodium content on N2O decomposition activity shows that the optimal amount of metal is determined as 5wt. % cobalt and 0.5wt. % rhodium loaded on Al2O3. The best working voltage is determined as 18kV. The results indicated that the Rh/Al2O3 catalysts prepared by atmospheric-pressure DBD cold plasma showed smaller size and high dispersion of Rh particles, so that the metal-support interaction and the catalytic activity are enhanced. Atmospheric-pressure DBD cold plasma is proved to be an environmentally friendly and efficient method for preparing high performance Rhodium and Cobalt bimetallic catalysts for catalytic N2O decomposition.