Synthesis of nanostructured tungsten carbonitride (WNxCy) by carbothermal ammonia reduction on activated carbon and its application in hydrazine decomposition

•Carbothermal NH3 reduction method was successfully used to obtain WNxCy.•WNxCy was highly dispersed on the carbon support with particle size less than 2 nm.•The WNxCy/AC showed stronger adsorption capability than WCx/AC-H.•The WNxCy/AC exhibited high catalytic performance for hydrazine decomposition.

A carbothermal NH3 reduction method was introduced for the synthesis of nanostructured tungsten carbonitride using support carbon and NH3 as carbon source and nitrogen source, respectively. A series of samples synthesized by this route from WO3/AC were characterized by X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed surface reaction-mass spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and microcalorimetry. The results demonstrated that a nanostructured tungsten carbonitride (WNxCy) was successfully synthesized on activated carbon at 800 °C and the resulting WNxCy was uniformly dispersed on the carbon support with particle size less than 2 nm. The WNxCy/AC prepared by the carbothermal NH3 process has stronger capability for CO adsorption and exhibited better catalytic performance for hydrazine decomposition than the WCx/AC-H catalyst prepared by the carbothermal H2 reduction process. Further bench-scale tests indicated that it could be a promising substitute for the traditional Ir/Al2O3 catalyst in hydrazine decomposition technology.

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