Revisiting Carbon Based Metallic Compounds - Nanoscale Surface Science and Environmental Catalysis

摘要

Catalytic ability on 12 kinds of carbide powders was investigated at room temperature using NOx gas degradation. They are largely classified into two groups, depending on whether the reaction involves a nitrogen gas in air or not. The carbon dangling bonds largely contribute to the reaction, while the accompanied metal atoms play an important role for adsorbing/dissociating nitrogen gas. Mechanical milling or annealing, as long as without agglomeration, is an effective method for activating powder catalysis, producing new surfaces with plenty catalytic sites. A new concept of catalysis is presented, based on the Schottky barrier-like model, where the charge imbalance is produced at the interface between the non-uniform thin oxide and the carbide.