Ceria nanoparticles’ morphological effects on the N 2 O decomposition performance of Co 3 O 4 /CeO 2 mixed oxidesCeria nanoparticles’ morphological effects on the N 2 O decomposition performance of Co 3 O 4 /CeO 2 mixed oxides Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2020-07-272019enCeria-based oxides have been widely explored recently in the direct decomposition of N 2 O (deN 2 O) due to their unique redox/surface properties and lower cost as compared to noble metal-based catalysts. Cobalt oxide dispersed on ceria is among the most active mixed oxides with its efficiency strongly affected by counterpart features, such as particle size and morphology. In this work, the morphological effect of ceria nanostructures (nanorods (ΝR), nanocubes (NC), nanopolyhedra (NP)) on the solid-state properties and the deN 2 O performance of the Co 3 O 4 /CeO 2 binary system is investigated. Several characterization methods involving N 2 adsorption at −196 °C, X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (ΤΕΜ) were carried out to disclose structure-property relationships. The results revealed the importance of support morphology on the physicochemical properties and the N 2 O conversion performance of bare ceria samples, following the order nanorods (NR) > nanopolyhedra (NP) > nanocubes (NC). More importantly, Co 3 O 4 impregnation to different carriers towards the formation of Co 3 O 4 /CeO 2 mixed oxides greatly enhanced the deN 2 O performance as compared to bare ceria samples, without, however, affecting the conversion sequence, implying the pivotal role of ceria support. The Co 3 O 4 /CeO 2 sample with the rod-like morphology exhibited the best deN 2 O performance (100% N 2 O conversion at 500 °C) due to its abundance in Co 2+ active sites and Ce 3+ species in conjunction to its improved reducibility, oxygen kinetics and surface area.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Catalysts93Lykaki_et_al_Catalysts_9(3)_2019.pdfChania [Greece]Library of TUC2020-07-27application/pdf2.7 MBfree Lykaki Maria Λυκακη Μαρια Papista Eleni Kaklidis Nikolaos Carabineiro, Sónia Alexandra Correia Konsolakis Michail Κονσολακης Μιχαηλ MDPI Ceria nanoparticles Co 3 O 4 /CeO 2 mixed oxides DeN 2 O process Morphological effects