Efficient catalytic decomposition of N2O over Cd-doped NiO in the presence of O2

A series of Cd-doped NiO catalysts were prepared and tested in the N2O catalytic decomposition reaction. In comparison with NiO, it was found that the Cd0.04Ni catalyst showed higher N2O decomposition activity in the temperature range of 300–450 °C with or without O2, and lower activation energy (77.8 kJ mol−1). The incorporation of Cd into the NiO lattice was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and Raman spectra. This led to the distortion of the original NiO structure and weakened the Ni-O bond. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that compared with NiO and CdO, Cd0.04Ni possessed higher Ni2+ and Cd(n+1)+ contents, which might have been induced by the electron transfer behavior between CdO and NiO. A possible mechanism for active site regeneration and O2 desorption over Cd0.04Ni was proposed. The Cd0.04Ni catalyst also exhibited good resistance to NO and O2. [Display omitted] •Catalytic decomposition of N2O over NiO was improved by Cd-doping.•Incorporated Cd led to the lattice distortion of NiO and weakened the Ni-O bonds.•Cd0.04Ni exhibited unaffected N2O decomposition activity with and without O2.•A possible electron transfer mechanism on Cd0.04Ni was proposed.