Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is a stratospheric ozone depleting greenhouse gas that has global warming potential. As the catalytic decomposition of N(2)O is one of the most promising techniques for N(2)O emissions abatement, in this study, for this purpose the properties of Ru supported on various oxide materials were investigated under excess O(2) conditions, and the identities of the N(2)O adsorption species on the catalysts were confirmed. To clarify the correlation between the catalytic properties and N(2)O decomposition activity, the supported Ru catalysts were characterised by means of powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence measurements, energy-dispersive X-ray mapping and several gas sorption techniques. The results showed that the redox properties for Ru (RuO(2)) at low temperature are closely associated with N(2)O decomposition activity. The local structures, optimal Ru loading and N(2)O adsorption species of the novel Ru/SnO(2) catalysts were studied and they showed high activity for N(2)O decomposition.