Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide on silver-nickel oxide two-component catalysts and the effects of ionizing radition

The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution has been studied on silver-nickel oxide two-component catalysts containing various proportions of the components covering the entire region of 0–100% of one component. The catalytic activity of the system appears to be a non-monotonic function of its' composition. The activity of the samples containing 0–91 wt% NiO is determined by the catalytic efficiency of the silver component present in the catalyst and this efficiency seems to be connected with the surface concentration of Ag⁺ ions. The catalytic activity of samples containing more than 91 wt% NiO is determined by the activity of the nickel oxide. The γ irradiation (dose 10 kGy) of samples containing an excess of silver leads to a lower catalytic activity and irradiation of samples with a higher content of nickel oxide increases its' activity. Irradiation of catalysts with fast neutrons appreciably decreases their activity, irrespective of their composition, while irradiation with β radiation (dose 5.6 MGy) has no effect on their activity.