Fabrication of Copper-Cerium Oxide Hollow Spheres with Carbon Template and Their Catalytic Activity for Decomposition of Nitrous Oxide

Fabrication of copper-cerium oxide hollow sphere catalyst for decomposition of nitrous oxide were investigated. The hollow sphere catalysts were prepared with adjusting the amount of total metal salt (0.005-0.015 mol) for coating the catalyst precursors on spherical carbon templates, and morphology, composition, and structural properties of the hollow sphere catalysts were evaluated. From the results of TEM and BET measurements, shell thickness and specific surface area of the catalyst increased with increasing the total metal salt amount. From the result of the EDX analyses, composition of the active copper species decreased with increasing the total metal salt amount to correspond closely to the introduced ratio. The catalysts prepared with the total metal salt amount of 0.005 and 0.015 mol included highly dispersed active copper species and weak Cu-O and Ce-O bonds from the results of the XRD and XPS measurements, and the catalysts exhibited high activity for decomposition of nitrous oxide. © 2022 Japan Institute of Energy. All rights reserved.