Adsorption and decomposition of nitrous oxide on zirconia nanoparticles

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:214595

Miller, T M; Grassian, V H ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)

Nitrous oxide, a by-product of several industrial processes, has some environmentally damaging effects. Since it has an atmospheric lifetime of over one hundred years, there is a great deal of interest in finding ways to limit the amount of nitrous oxide emitted into the atmosphere. Recently, zirconia and zirconia-based catalysts have been shown to be effective in catalyzing nitrous oxide decomposition. We have employed FT-IR spectroscopy to study the adsorption and decomposition of nitrous oxide on zirconia nanoparticles. The room temperature IR spectrum of adsorbed nitrous oxide is characterized by two intense absorption bands, the symmetric stretch and asymmetric stretch, that are shifted from the gas phase values. Experiments as a function of sample pretreatment temperature and site-blocker adsorption indicated that nitrous oxide adsorbs on Zr{sup 4+} sites and the mode of attachment is through the oxygen atom. Dissociation of nitrous oxide begins at temperatures above 350{degrees}C. The data suggest that Zr{sup 4+} may be the active site for nitrous oxide decomposition and the room temperature adsorbed species is perhaps a precursor to nitrous oxide decomposition.

• OSTI ID: 214595
• Report Number(s): CONF-950801--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ADSORPTION
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
COAL
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
DECOMPOSITION
DISSOCIATION
EXHAUST GASES
FOSSIL FUELS
NITROUS OXIDE
SURFACE PROPERTIES
ZIRCONIUM OXIDES