The Critical Role of Oxygen Vacancies in N2O Decomposition Over Cobalt-Doped CeO2 Catalysts

Catalytic decomposition is a promising method for N₂O removal, and the nature of active sites on the catalysts is under debate. The combination of experimental observations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicates that oxygen vacancies in the metal oxide catalysts serve as the active sites for N₂O decomposition. Co doping in CeO₂ significantly increases the content of oxygen vacancies, thereby enhancing the activity of the catalyst for N₂O decomposition. A catalyst with Co/Ce = 1 exhibited the best activity, with a T₉₀ of 375 °C and excellent stability maintained for over 100 h, which is much better than that of Co₃O₄ spinel. The finding advances the understanding of active sites in the N₂O catalytic decomposition and contributes to the design of highly efficient catalysts.