Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2026, Vol. 89: 430-443.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65175-3

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Assembly-line synergistic catalysis in isomorphic substituted Co3O4 nanocomposite for enhanced N2O decomposition

Lingji Liua,1, Xiaosheng Yua,1, Zhou Chena, Xueqing Haia, Yongzhao Wanga, Changzhen Wanga,b,*(), Tiancun Xiaoc,*()   

  1. aEngineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Fine Chemicals, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, Shanxi, China
    bSchool of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, Shanxi, China
    cInorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK
  • Received:2026-01-07 Accepted:2026-04-02 Online:2026-10-18 Published:2026-09-01
  • Contact: *E-mail:czwang@sxu.edu.cn(C. Wang),xiao.tiancun@chem.ox.ac.uk(T. Xiao).
  • About author:

    1 Contributed equally to this work.

  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(22578255);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22178202);Central Government Guidance Fund for Local Science and Technology Development(YDZJSX2024D004);Key Research and Development Special Program of Shanxi Province(202402090301006)

Abstract:

Nanoscale assembly-line catalysis is a novel avenue for reactions with multiple rate-determining steps. The regional coexistence of different elements in nanocomposites with adjacent heterometallic coordination can construct substructures compatible with multifunctional sites, resulting in synergistic catalysis. Herein, a novel nanocomposite with affluent Ca-O-Co-Ov-Zr micro-integrated stations (MIS) is developed through an isomorphic substitution strategy to promote the spatiotemporally ordered N-O adsorption and mitigate kinetic limitation of O transportation/desorption through an assembly-line catalytic perspective during N2O decomposition. The optimized CoCa6Zr9 can achieve T90 of N2O decomposition at 355 °C and stably run for more than 100 h. This superior performance is mainly attributed to a bidirectional promotion mechanism via both “Ca-e--Co” electronic chain in Ca-O-Co (workshop 1) and O vacancy electronic pump in “Co-Ov-Zr” (workshop 2), which promotes the formation of electron-rich Co2+-Ov cooperative sites (namly, the MIS), accelerating cleavage of N-O bond (Primary Step i). Meanwhile, the cooperative of atomic-regulated electronic and redox inducers can adjust the Co-O polarity to maintain the Co2+ valence state, weaken the Co-O bond and enhance active oxygen mobility, thus refreshing its active sites for assembly-line catalytic cycles instantly and persistently (Primary Step ii). This work establishes an effective insight for rationally assembling cooperative active sites in assembly-line inspired substructures, which is essential for advancing the research on the coordination of multiple reaction steps in complex catalytic reactions.

Key words: Assembly-line catalysis, Isomorphic substituted substructure, Nanocomposite, Bidirectional promotion, N2O decomposition