Catalytic decomposition of N2O over Cu-ZSM-11 catalysts

•The Cu-ZSM-11 catalysts are firstly used in direct N2O decomposition.•Cu-ZSM-11 is obviously more active than Cu-ZSM-5 with the same Si/Al ratio.•Enhanced activity is due to better reducibility and accessibility of Cu+ species.

The catalytic decomposition of N2O was investigated over a series of Cu-ZSM-11 catalysts with different Si/Al ratios. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption, SEM, 27Al MAS NMR, DRIFTS, XPS, and H2-TPR. These catalysts were found to be effective for N2O decomposition. The catalytic activity in terms of conversion decreases when the Si/Al ratio increases, due to the decreased amount of active Cu+ species and the weakened reducibility of active sites. A comparison of Cu-ZSM-11 and Cu-ZSM-5 with the same Si/Al ratio demonstrates that Cu-ZSM-11 is apparently more active than Cu-ZSM-5, due to the enhanced reducibility of active Cu+ species and better accessibility of active sites in Cu-ZSM-11.

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