Efficient reduction of nitric oxide using zirconium phosphide powders synthesized by elemental combination method.

Zirconium phosphide (ZrP) powders were synthesized by elemental combination method via the direct reaction of zirconium powders with red phosphorus, and characterized by XRD, SEM, XPS, XRF, SAED and TEM measurements. The obtained ZrP powders were found to exhibit apparent activity in the ready eliminateion of nitric oxide (NO) via facile redox reactions, and the elimination dynamics was evaluated within the context of various important experimental parameters, such as reaction temperature and gas concentration. At a fixed amount of ZrP powders, an increasing amount of NO would be eliminated with increasing reaction temperature, and complete conversion of NO to N2 could be reached in the range of 700 to 800 °C. The addition of NH3 also facilitated NO elimination at a fixed reaction temperature. Furthermore, of the products of the elimination process, zirconia (ZrO2) powder is a kind of biocompatible material, red phosphorus can be used to produce safety matches, organophosphorous pesticide and phosphor bronze, and the produced N2 might be collected and used as a protective gas or be converted into liquid nitrogen for other purposes.