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

School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049 Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China

^* Corresponding author: suitaoqi@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

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.