Reaction of nitric oxide and nitric oxide + carbon monoxide with amorphous Fe-Co-B alloy powders

The activity of amorphous Fe---Co---B alloy powder was investigated for the decomposition and the reduction of nitrogen monoxide. The transient response technique and a fixed bed reactor were applied to study the interactions of the Fe---Co---B alloy with two gas mixtures: NO + Ar at 353 and 573 K and NO + CO + Ar at 333–573 K. Moessbauer spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the state of the initial sample and the samples utilized in both gas mixtures. It is shown that the amorphous Fe---Co---B alloy powder has an activity for the direct decomposition of nitric oxide to nitrous oxide and nitrogen at a high gas space velocity (26 000 h⁻¹). Oxygen from the decomposed nitric oxide poisons the surface for the formation of nitrogen. In the presence of carbon monoxide (a NO + CO + Ar gas mixture) nitric oxide is reduced to nitrous oxide at 333–353 K and fully reduced to nitrogen at 373–573 K. The quantities of the carbon dioxide formed are not equal to the values expected from the stoichiometry of the NO + CO reaction. Probably, the interaction of carbon monoxide with the adsorbed oxygen (left on the surface by the decomposed nitric oxide) enhances the rate of nitric oxide decomposition to nitrous oxide and nitrogen. The rate limiting steps for both reactions of nitric oxide decomposition, as indicated by the transient response data, change with increasing temperature. The data from the Moessbauer spectroscopy and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies have shown that the amorphous Fe---Co---B alloy powder undergoes phase changes under the conditions of both, the NO + Ar and the NO + CO + Ar gas mixtures. Boron migrates to the surface of globules and serves the accumulation of oxygen by the formation of B₂O₃ (or B(OH)₃).