Investigation of nonmetal F‐doped Co3O4 as catalyst for N2O catalytic decomposition

An effective nonmetal F‐doped Co3O4 ( F‐Co3O4) catalyst was prepared using co‐precipitation method, and its catalytic performance was investigated for N2O decomposition comparing with pure Co3O4 catalyst. The catalytic activity test indicates that F‐Co3O4 catalyst exhibits better activity with 100% N2O conversion at a reaction temperature of 380 ℃, which is 80 ℃ lower than that of pure Co3O4. The characterization results show that F is successfully doped into the lattice of Co3O4 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 Co3O4. Moreover, F doping promotes the electron donation capacity of Co2+, 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‐Co3O4 catalyst, thus F‐Co3O4 catalyst exhibits better catalytic performance than pure Co3O4 for N2O decomposition, even in the existence of O2 or H2O as impurity gas. Meanwhile, F‐Co3O4 catalyst also exhibits better stability than pure Co3O4. This work will provide practical reference for constructing efficient nonmetal‐doped Co3O4 catalysts for N2O decomposition.