Cobalt zeolites: preparation, characterization and catalytic properties for N2O decomposition

The current research characterized various Co/zeolite catalysts prepared by wet incipient impregnation approach and investigated their N2O catalytic decomposition activities. The Co/zeolite catalysts were characterized by BET, H2-TPR, UVvis, NH3-TPD and TEM in detail, which reveals that the physicochemical properties of these catalysts are determined by the type of zeolite support, the cobalt species and their location (internal or external surface). In particular, it is found that the loaded cobalt species have great effects on the acidic property of zeolite supports. Co/Beta-3% shows the highest catalytic activity and the cobalt loading content slightly influences the catalytic activities of Co/Beta catalysts. Moreover, the catalytic performance of Co/Beta-3% is not disturbed by the presence of NO and O2. As thus, we believed that Beta zeolite is the most suitable support to prepare Co-loaded catalyst for N2O decomposition in our work. Copyright (c) 2011 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd