Ce-Based Catalysts for the Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx in the Presence of Excess Oxygen and Simulated Diesel Engine Exhaust Conditions

A review on fabricating functional materials by electroplating sludge: process characteristics and outlook

As the end product of the electroplating industry, electroplating sludge (ES) has a huge annual output and an abundant heavy metal (HM). The effective disposal of ES is attracting increasing attention. Currently, the widely used ES disposal methods (e.g. landfill and incineration) make it difficult to effectively control of HMs and synchronously utilise metal resources, leading to a waste of metal resources, HMs migration, and potential harm to the environment and human health. Therefore, techniques to limit HMs release into the environment and promote the efficient utilisation of metal resources contained within ES are of great interest. Based on these requirements, material reuse is a great potential means of ES management. This review presents an overview of the process flows, principles and feasibilities of the methods employed for the material reuse of ES. Several approaches have been investigated to date, including (1) additions in building materials, (2) application in pigment production, and (3) production of special functional materials. However, these three methods vary in their treatment scales, property requirements, ability to control HMs, and degree of utilisation of metal resources in ES. Currently, the safety of products and costs are not paid enough attention, and the large-scale disposal of HMs is not concordant with the effective management of HMs. Accordingly, this study proposes a holistic sustainable materialised reuse pattern of ES, which combines the scale and efficiency of sludge disposal and pays attention to the safety of products and the cost of transformation process for commercial application.

Fabrication of a wide temperature Mn–Ce/TNU-9 catalyst with superior NH3-SCR activity and strong SO2 and H2O tolerance

A Mn–Ce/TNU-9 catalyst demonstrated excellent sulfur and water resistance and good catalytic stability in the NH₃-SCR reaction.

Novel shielding and synergy effects of Mn-Ce oxides confined in mesoporous zeolite for low temperature selective catalytic reduction of NOx with enhanced SO2/H2O tolerance

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) are a primary source of air pollutants from combustion of fossil fuels. Though Mn-Ce based catalysts exhibit superior low temperature activities, their water and SO₂ tolerance is inferior to other metal oxide catalysts, due to their strong water adsorption and sulfate species formation tendency at low reaction temperatures. Herein, a confinement strategy was adopted to design and synthesize a novel Mn-Ce based catalyst for selective catalytic reduction of NO_x with NH₃. The confined MnCeO_x catalyst was assembled with a simple one pot method, using a mesoporous zeolite (ZSM-5) as the shell and Mn-Ce oxides as the active core (MnCeO_x@Z5). Owing to the zeolite shell's shielding effect and the synergy between the alumina-silica zeolite shell's acidic properties and the mixed oxide cores' redox properties, the novel MnCeO_x@Z5 catalyst displayed enhanced water and SO₂ resistance as compared to the MnCeO_x supported on ZSM-5 (MnCeO_x/Z5) and its precursor (MnCeO_x@Al-SiO₂). Evidently, the zeolite sheath hinders sulfate species formation, and this phenomenon was further investigated by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (In situ DRIFTS). The novel shielding and acid-redox synergy effect/strategy adopted in this work can be applied to design other high performance deNO_x catalysts for air pollution control.

The enhancement of NH3-SCR performance for CeO2 catalyst by CO pretreatment

CO pretreatment was found to effectively improve the SCR performance of CeO₂, with over 90% at about 300 °C. The larger specific area and the decrease of CeO₂ crystallization indicated the modification of the surface structure after CO pretreatment. Abundant Ce³⁺ species and active oxygen, better reducibility, and the higher surface adsorption capacity were mainly responsible for its enhanced SCR performance. DRIFT analysis revealed the presumed coexistence of two reaction routes that the L-H mechanism was related to the reaction temperature, while the reaction rate of E-R route was almost directly proportional to the NO concentration at a certain temperature, based on the kinetic calculation. In addition, the CO-pretreated CeO₂ also exhibited a better poisoning tolerance for SO₂ and H₂O and excellent thermal stability and circularity. Graphical abstract The process of NH₃-SCR reaction over CeO₂-CO catalyst.

Effects of WO3 and SiO2 doping on CeO2-TiO2 catalysts for selective catalytic reduction of NO with ammonia

A series of CeO2-WO3/SiO2-TiO2 (CeW x TiSi y ) catalysts with different loading amounts of WO3 were synthesized by wet co-impregnation of ammonium metatungstate and cerium nitrate on a SiO2-TiO2 support, and were employed for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by NH3. The catalytic activity of the CeO2/SiO2-TiO2 (CeSiTi) catalyst was enhanced by the addition of WO3, and the W-containing catalysts showed higher hydrothermal stability especially between 550 and 600 °C. The introduction of WO3 to the CeSiTi catalyst could produce more chemisorbed oxygen species, reducible subsurface oxygen species, acid sites and ad-NO x species. Moreover, the modification of CeO2-WO3/TiO2 (CeWTi) by SiO2 could enhance the specific surface area, especially the aged specific surface area, thus improving the hydrothermal stability of the catalyst.

Deactivation Mechanism of Multipoisons in Cement Furnace Flue Gas on Selective Catalytic Reduction Catalysts

Increasing numbers of cement furnaces have applied selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units for advanced treatment of NO in the flue gas. However, the SCR catalysts may face various poisons, such as acidic, alkaline, and heavy metal species, in the fly ash. In this work, we studied the deactivation mechanisms of multipoisons (Ca, Pb, and S) on the CeO₂-WO₃/TiO₂ catalyst, using the in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy method. Calcium promoted the conversion of Ce(III) to Ce(IV) and, thus, (i) suppressed the redox cycle, (ii) decreased the NO adsorption (monodentate NO₃^- and bridged NO₂^-), and (iii) enriched the Lewis acid sites. Pb(IV) blocked Ce₂(WO₄)₃, aggravating the electronegativity of W⁶⁺, which inhibited (i) the binding stability of tungsten and ammonia species, (ii) bridged NO₃^- (bonded to tungsten), and (iii) the Brønsted acid sites. The multipoisoning processes enriched O^2- by repairing partial surface oxygen defects, which suppressed O₂^2- and O^-. Sulfur occupied the surface base sites and formed PbSO₄ after Ce₂(WO₄)₃ was saturated.

Spatially Confined Tuning the Interfacial Synergistic Catalysis in Mesochannels toward Selective Catalytic Reduction

Low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (NO _x) with NH₃ (NH₃-SCR) has been identified as a promising strategy to mitigate the pollution of NO _x. The fine control of synergistic effect and the suppression of aggregation of the active component, however, are still the challenge because of the weak interaction between the active component and matrix. In this work, a series of Ce-promoted Mn-based heterogeneous catalysts supported on mesoporous silica (SBA-15) with different Mn contents were prepared by two separated impregnation processes. Low-temperature NH₃-SCR activity demonstrates that the Mn content in the catalyst has a great influence on the activity of the NH₃-SCR reaction. The 20% MnO _x-CeO _x/SBA-15 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance in a broad temperature window. Moreover, it exhibits enhanced resistance to SO₂ and H₂O and long-term durability during 72 h reaction. The highly dispersive active phase, the formation of solid solution, the high ratio of Ce³⁺, and the spatial confinement effect largely contribute to the outstanding activity and durability of the 20% MnO _x-CeO _x/SBA-15 catalyst. Finally, a monolithic catalyst fabricated by the 20% MnO _x-CeO _x/SBA-15 catalyst powder and cordierite substrate show promising industrial application.

Ag-Based nanocomposites: synthesis and applications in catalysis

Ag-Based nanocomposites, including supported Ag nanocomposites and bimetallic Ag nanocomposites, have been intensively investigated as highly efficient catalysts because of their high activity and stability, easy preparation, low cost, and low toxicity. Herein, we systematically summarize and comprehensively evaluate versatile synthetic strategies for the preparation of Ag-based nanocomposites, and outline their recent advances in catalytic oxidation, catalytic reduction, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. In addition, the challenges and prospects related to Ag-based nanocomposites for various catalytic applications are also discussed. In light of the most recent advances in Ag-based nanocomposites for catalysis applications, this review provides a comprehensive assessment on the material selection, synthesis and catalytic characteristics of these catalysts, which offers a strategic guide to build a close connection between Ag nanocomposites and catalysis applications.

High-Efficiency Catalytic Conversion of NOx by the Synergy of Nanocatalyst and Plasma: Effect of Mn-Based Bimetallic Active Species

Three typical Mn-based bimetallic nanocatalysts of Mn−Fe/TiO2, Mn−Co/TiO2, Mn−Ce/TiO2 were synthesized via the hydrothermal method to reveal the synergistic effects of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma and bimetallic nanocatalysts on NOx catalytic conversion. The plasma-catalyst hybrid catalysis was investigated compared with the catalytic effects of plasma alone and nanocatalyst alone. During the catalytic process of catalyst alone, the catalytic activities of all tested catalysts were lower than 20% at ambient temperature. While in the plasma-catalyst hybrid catalytic process, NOx conversion significantly improved with discharge energy enlarging. The maximum NOx conversion of about 99.5% achieved over Mn−Ce/TiO2 under discharge energy of 15 W·h/m3 at ambient temperature. The reaction temperature had an inhibiting effect on plasma-catalyst hybrid catalysis. Among these three Mn-based bimetallic nanocatalysts, Mn−Ce/TiO2 displayed the optimal catalytic property with higher catalytic activity and superior selectivity in the plasma-catalyst hybrid catalytic process. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of these three typical Mn-based bimetallic nanocatalysts were analyzed by N2 adsorption, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), H2-temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), NH3-temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The multiple characterizations demonstrated that the plasma-catalyst hybrid catalytic performance was highly dependent on the phase compositions. Mn−Ce/TiO2 nanocatalyst presented the optimal structure characteristic among all tested samples, with the largest surface area, the minished particle sizes, the reduced crystallinity, and the increased active components distributions. In the meantime, the ratios of Mn4+/(Mn2+ + Mn3+ + Mn4+) in the Mn−Ce/TiO2 sample was the highest, which was beneficial to plasma-catalyst hybrid catalysis. Generally, it was verified that the plasma-catalyst hybrid catalytic process with the Mn-based bimetallic nanocatalysts was an effective approach for high-efficiency catalytic conversion of NOx, especially at ambient temperature.

Development of cerium-based catalysts for selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides: a review

Nitrogen oxides (NO_X) are major pollutants of the atmosphere, and selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides using ammonia as a reductant (NH₃-SCR) is an effective method to remove nitrogen oxides.

Enhancing low-temperature SCR de-NOx and alkali metal poisoning resistance of a 3Mn10Fe/Ni catalyst by adding Co

Alkaline K poisoned and Co-modified catalysts were prepared using Fe and Mn as active components, nickel foam as a carrier, and Co as a trace additive.

Sulfate promotion of selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide by ammonia on ceria

Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide by ammonia (NH₃-SCR) is a promising technology for NO_x emission control.

Structure–Activity Relationship Study of Mn/Fe Ratio Effects on Mn−Fe−Ce−Ox/γ-Al2O3 Nanocatalyst for NO Oxidation and Fast SCR Reaction

A series of Mn−Fe−Ce−Ox/γ-Al2O3 nanocatalysts were synthesized with different Mn/Fe ratios for the catalytic oxidation of NO into NO2 and the catalytic elimination of NOx via fast selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reaction. The effects of Mn/Fe ratio on the physicochemical properties of the samples were analyzed by means of various techniques including N2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), H2-temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), NH3-temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and NO-TPD, meanwhile, their catalytic performance was also evaluated and compared. Multiple characterizations revealed that the catalytic performance was highly dependent on the phase composition. The Mn15Fe15−Ce/Al sample with the Mn/Fe molar ratio of 1.0 presented the optimal structure characteristic among all tested samples, with the largest surface area, increased active components distributions, the reduced crystallinity and diminished particle sizes. In the meantime, the ratios of Mn4+/Mnn+, Fe2+/Fen+ and Ce3+/Cen+ in Mn15Fe15−Ce/Al samples were improved, which could enhance the redox capacity and increase the quantity of chemisorbed oxygen and oxygen vacancy, thus facilitating NO oxidation into NO2 and eventually promoting the fast SCR reaction. In accord with the structure results, the Mn15Fe15−Ce/Al sample exhibited the highest NO oxidation rate of 64.2% at 350 °C and the broadest temperature window of 75–350 °C with the NOx conversion >90%. Based on the structure–activity relationship discussion, the catalytic mechanism over the Mn−Fe−Ce ternary components supported by γ-Al2O3 were proposed. Overall, it was believed that the optimization of Mn/Fe ratio in Mn−Fe−Ce/Al nanocatalyst was an extremely effective method to improve the structure–activity relationships for NO pre-oxidation and the fast SCR reaction.

Highly Selective Oxidation of Ethyl Lactate to Ethyl Pyruvate Catalyzed by Mesoporous Vanadia-Titania

The direct oxidative dehydrogenation of lactates with molecular oxygen is a “greener” alternative for producing pyruvates. Here we report a one-pot synthesis of mesoporous vanadia–titania (VTN), acting as highly efficient and recyclable catalysts for the conversion of ethyl lactate to ethyl pyruvate. These VTN materials feature high surface areas, large pore volumes, and high densities of isolated vanadium species, which can expose the active sites and facilitate the mass transport. In comparison to homogeneous vanadium complexes and VO_x/TiO₂ prepared by impregnation, the meso-VTN catalysts showed superior activity, selectivity, and stability in the aerobic oxidation of ethyl lactate to ethyl pyruvate. We also studied the effect of various vanadium precursors, which revealed that the vanadium-induced phase transition of meso-VTN from anatase to rutile depends strongly on the vanadium precursor. NH₄VO₃ was found to be the optimal vanadium precursor, forming more monomeric vanadium species. V⁴⁺ as the major valence state was incorporated into the lattice of the NH₄VO₃-derived VTN material, yielding more V⁴⁺–O–Ti bonds in the anatase-dominant structure. In situ DRIFT spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations show that V⁴⁺–O–Ti bonds are responsible for the dissociation of ethyl lactate over VTN catalysts and for further activation of the deprotonation of β-hydrogen. Molecular oxygen can replenish the surface oxygen to regenerate the V⁴⁺–O–Ti bonds.

Simultaneous removal of PM and NOx over highly efficient 3DOM W/Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 catalysts

Herein, three-dimensional ordered macropore (3DOM) x% W/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (x = 0.5, 0.8, 1, 3) catalysts were prepared and employed for the simultaneous removal of PM (particulate matter) and NO_x from diesel engine exhaust.