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

Abstract An effective nonmetal F‐doped Co 3 O 4 (F‐Co 3 O 4 ) catalyst was prepared using co‐precipitation method, and its catalytic performance was investigated for N 2 O decomposition comparing with pure Co 3 O 4 catalyst. The catalytic activity test indicates that F‐Co 3 O 4 catalyst exhibits better activity with 100% N 2 O conversion at a reaction temperature of 380 °C, which is 80 °C lower than that of pure Co 3 O 4 . The characterization results show that F is successfully doped into the lattice of Co 3 O 4 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 Co 3 O 4 . Moreover, F doping promotes the electron donation capacity of Co 2+ , 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‐Co 3 O 4 catalyst, thus F‐Co 3 O 4 catalyst exhibits better catalytic performance than pure Co 3 O 4 for N 2 O decomposition, even in the existence of O 2 or H 2 O as impurity gas. Meanwhile, F‐Co 3 O 4 catalyst also exhibits better stability than pure Co 3 O 4 . This work will provide practical reference for constructing efficient nonmetal‐doped Co 3 O 4 catalysts for N 2 O decomposition.