# Mechanochemical Nitrous Oxide Decomposition

## TL;DR

A new method using mechanochemical reactions efficiently breaks down nitrous oxide at low temperatures.

## Contribution

A mechanochemical approach using nickel oxide achieves high N2O decomposition efficiency at mild temperatures.

## Key findings

- Mechanochemical decomposition achieved 99.98% N2O conversion at 42°C.
- The reaction rate was 1761.3 mL h−1, significantly higher than thermochemical methods.
- Non-equilibrium states under mechanochemical conditions enable efficient decomposition.

## Abstract

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is one of the top three greenhouse gases, together with carbon dioxide and methane, but it is stable enough not to be easily decomposed under thermocatalytic conditions, even at high temperature (445 °C). Herein, an efficient N2O decomposition method is reported using nickel oxide catalyst under mechanochemical conditions operated near ambient temperature. The mechanochemical N2O decomposition method exhibited a rapid reaction rate of 1761.3 mL h−1 and a high conversion of 99.98% even at 42 °C, compared to the thermochemical method (294.9 mL h−1 and 49.16% at 445 °C). Unlike equilibrium thermocatalytic states, the non‐equilibrium mechanocatalytic states induced by intensive dynamic mechanochemical actions are responsible for effective N2O decomposition under mild temperature conditions.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 310. A novel mechanochemical strategy is presented for decomposing N2O into harmless nitrogen and oxygen, achieving a rapid decomposition rate of 1761.3 mL h−1 and nearly complete N2O conversion of 99.98% at 42 °C.