Improved N2 Selectivity of MnOx Catalysts for NOx Reduction by Engineering Bridged Mn3+ Sites.

ABSTRACT

Mn-based catalysts are promising for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3 at low temperatures due to their excellent redox capacity. However, the N2 selectivity of Mn-based catalysts is an urgent problem for practical application owing to excessive oxidizability. To solve this issue, we report a Mn-based catalyst using amorphous ZrTiOx as the support (Mn/ZrTi-A) with both excellent low-temperature NOx conversion and N2 selectivity. It is found that the amorphous structure of ZrTiOx modulates the metal-support interaction for anchoring the highly dispersed active MnOx species and constructs a uniquely bridged Mn3+ bonded with the support through oxygen linked to Ti4+ and Zr4+, respectively, which regulates the optimal oxidizability of the MnOx species. As a result, Mn/ZrTi-A is not conducive to the formation of ammonium nitrate that readily decomposes to N2O, thus further increasing N2 selectivity. This work investigates the role of an amorphous support in promoting the N2 selectivity of a manganese-based catalyst and sheds light on the design of efficient low-temperature deNOx catalysts.