Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide on a two-component NiO-CdO catalyst and the effect of ionizing radiation on its catalytic properties

The catalytic properties of two-component catalyst nickel oxide-cadmium oxide with the proportions of the components covering the whole composition region 0-100% were examined by studying the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution on it. In the range 0-25 mol.% CdO, cadmium oxide is found to affect infavourably the ability of nickel oxide to chemisorb oxygen. The amount of the chemisorbed oxygen increases several times on gamma irradiation of the samples. The effect of cadmium oxide on the catalytic activity of the system shows up in fresh samples only indirectly via the changed amount of the oxygen chemisorbed. In older samples the initial catalytic activity of the system is changed, which can be explained based on the concept of bivalent catalytic centres in terms of the co-action of the catalytic centres of the two oxides, which are in equilibrium. The irradiation of the system under study speeds up the processes leading to the establishing of this equilibrium which is thermally very stable, and results in a substantial increase of the catalytic activity of the samples investigated.