Synthesis, characterization and activity of alumina-supported cobalt nitride for NO decomposition

A new type of transition metal nitride, viz. alumina-supported cobalt nitride, was synthesized for the first time by NH3-temperature-programmed reaction, and its structure was characterized by BET, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) techniques. The supported cobalt nitride performs much better than its bulk counterpart for NO decomposition, owing to its small crystal size, high thermal stability and big surface area.