Ceria‐Supported Gold Nanoparticles as a Superior Catalyst for Nitrous Oxide Production via Ammonia Oxidation
Zhenchen Tang, Ivan Surin, Asbjörn Rasmussen, Frank Krumeich, Evgenii V. Kondratenko, Vita A. Kondratenko, Javier Pérez‐Ramírez
Abstract
Abstract The production of nitrous oxide, N 2 O, via NH 3 oxidation is not on a practical scale due to the lack of a suitable catalyst. Instead, it is produced via thermal decomposition of NH 4 NO 3 , rendering N 2 O too costly and limiting its prospective uses. Herein, we report CeO 2 ‐supported Au nanoparticles (2–3 nm) as a highly selective catalyst for low‐temperature NH 3 oxidation to N 2 O, exhibiting two orders of magnitude higher space–time yield than the state‐of‐the‐art Mn−Bi/α‐Al 2 O 3 and remarkable stability over 70 h on stream. The reaction proceeds via a Mars–van Krevelen mechanism, with the density of interfacial Au δ+ species and the oxygen storage capacity of CeO 2 identified as the key performance descriptors. The latter could be enhanced by cobalt doping, improving the catalytic activity and setting a new benchmark for N 2 O productivity. These findings establish NH 3 oxidation as an efficient process for N 2 O manufacture and facilitate its broader utilization in selective oxidations.