110th Anniversary: Recent Progress and Future Challenges in Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO by H2 in the Presence of O2

Efficient Pt/KFI zeolite catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx by hydrogen

Aiming at purification of NOx from hydrogen internal combustion engines (HICEs), the hydrogen selective catalytic reduction (H2-SCR) reaction was investigated over a series of Pt/KFI zeolite catalysts. H2 can readily reduce NOx to N2 and N2O while O2 inhibited the deNOx efficiency by consuming the reductant H2. The Pt/KFI zeolite catalysts with Pt loading below 0.1 wt.% are optimized H2-SCR catalysts due to its suitable operation temperature window since high Pt loading favors the H2-O2 reaction which lead to the insufficient of reactants. Compared to metal Pt0 species, Ptδ+ species showed lower activation energy of H2-SCR reaction and thought to be as reasonable active sites. Further, Eley-Rideal (E-R) reaction mechanism was proposed as evidenced by the reaction orders in kinetic studies. Last, the optimized reactor was designed with hybrid Pt/KFI catalysts with various Pt loading which achieve a high NOx conversion in a wide temperature range.

Enhancement of Pt-O Synergistic Sites through Titanium Vacancies for Low-Temperature Nitrogen Oxide Reduction

Improving the reaction rate of each step is significant for accelerating the multistep reaction of NO reduction by H2. However, simultaneously enhancing the activation of different gaseous reactants using single-atom catalysts remains a challenge to maximize the activity. Herein, we propose a strategy that utilizes titanium-vacancy-regulated electronic properties of single atoms and defective support (Pt1/d-TiO2) to facilitate electron transfer from edge-share O atoms (OTi) to adjacent Pt single atoms. This leads to the formation of low-valence Pt and unsaturated-charge OTi sites, which causes the catalytic reaction to follow a synergistic mechanism. Specifically, experimental and theoretical analyses demonstrate that low-valence Pt sites finely tune the adsorption of H2 molecules, consequently lowering the dissociation energy from 0.15 to as low as 0.01 eV. Moreover, using quasi-in situ spectroscopy, we clearly observe NO molecules being adsorbed on interfacial oxygen sites of a defective support. Then, the bond energy of the N-O bond is weakened through an electron acceptance-donation mechanism between unsaturated-charge OTi sites and NO, thereby facilitating NO activation. The designed single-atom catalysts with synergistic sites exhibit unmatched activity at low temperatures (above 90% NOx conversion at 100 °C), along with higher turnover frequency value (0.74 s-1) and superior stability, making them potentially suitable for industrial applications.

Blatter Radical-Decorated Silica as a Prospective Adsorbent for Selective NO Capture from Air

Nitrogen oxides are adverse poisonous gases present in the atmosphere and having detrimental effects on the human health and environment. In this work, we propose a new type of mesoporous materials capable of capturing nitrogen monoxide (NO) from air. The designed material combines the robust Santa Barbara Amorphous-15 silica scaffold and ultrastable Blatter-type radicals acting as NO traps. Using in situ electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, we demonstrate that NO capture from air is selective and reversible at practical conditions, thus making Blatter radical-decorated silica highly promising for environmental applications.

Selective Catalytic Reduction with Hydrogen for Exhaust gas after-treatment of Hydrogen Combustion Engines

In this work, two palladium-based catalysts with either ZSM-5 or Zeolite Y as support material are tested for their performance in selective catalytic reduction of NOx with hydrogen (H2-SCR). The ligh-toff measurements in synthetic exhaust gas mixtures typical for hydrogen combustion engines are supplemented by detailed catalyst characterization comprising N2 physisorption, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR) and ammonia temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD). Introducing 10% or 20% TiO2 into the catalyst formulations reduced the surface area and the number of acidic sites for both catalysts, however, more severely for the Zeolite Y-supported catalysts. The higher reducibility of the Pd particles that was uncovered by H2-TPR resulted in an improved catalytic performance during the light-off measurements and substantially boosted NO conversion. Upon exposition to humid exhaust gas, the ZSM-5-supported catalysts showed a significant drop in performance, whereas the Zeolite Y-supported catalyst kept the high levels of conversion while shifting the selectivity from N2O more toward NH3 and N2. The 1%Pd/20%TiO2/HY catalyst subject to this work outperforms one of the most active and selective benchmark catalyst formulations, 1%Pd/5%V2O5/20%TiO2-Al2O3, making Zeolite Y a promising support material for H2-SCR catalyst formulations that allow efficient and selective NOx-removal from exhaust gases originating from hydrogen-fueled engines.

Low-Temperature NOx Reduction by H2 on Mo-Promoted Pt/ZrO2 Catalysts in Lean Exhaust Gases

This article aims to improve the low-temperature H2-deNOx performance of the active Pt/ZrO2 catalyst using MoOx as a promoter. For this purpose, a systematic series of Pt/ZrO2 samples were prepared with a Pt content of 0.25 wt% and Mo loads from 0 to 10 wt%. The samples were physico-chemically characterized by means of powder X-ray diffraction, N2 physisorption, temperature-programmed desorption of CO and NH3, Raman spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy using NH3 as probe molecule, while the H2-deNOx efficiency was investigated in a lean synthetic exhaust. The Pt/ZrO2 catalyst with a Mo load of 3 wt% showed the best performance, including H2-deNOx between 80 °C and 150 °C, a maximum NOx conversion of 90% and N2 selectivity up to 78%. Isolated MoOx species predominately present at Mo loads below 4 wt% were found to act as structural promoter by stabilizing the BET surface area, while also providing smaller Pt particles and more active Pt sites, respectively. By contrast, the aggregated Mo oxide moieties found at higher Mo loads exhibit a clearly weaker promotional effect. The structure–activity-selectivity correlations also suggest that the promoter additionally enables a SCR-related mechanistic pathway to be followed, including the spill-over of NHx species from the Pt sites to strong Lewis acid sites in the case of highly dispersed MoOx entities followed by reaction with NOx.

Purification Technologies for NOx Removal from Flue Gas: A Review

Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a major gaseous pollutant in flue gases from power plants, industrial processes, and waste incineration that can have adverse impacts on the environment and human health. Many denitrification (de-NOx) technologies have been developed to reduce NOx emissions in the past several decades. This paper provides a review of the recent literature on NOx post-combustion purification methods with different reagents. From the perspective of changes in the valence of nitrogen (N), purification technologies against NOx in flue gas are classified into three approaches: oxidation, reduction, and adsorption/absorption. The removal processes, mechanisms, and influencing factors of each method are systematically reviewed. In addition, the main challenges and potential breakthroughs of each method are discussed in detail and possible directions for future research activities are proposed. This review provides a fundamental and systematic understanding of the mechanisms of denitrification from flue gas and can help researchers select high-performance and cost-effective methods.

State-of-Art Review of NO Reduction Technologies by CO, CH4 and H2

Removal of nitrogen oxides during coal combustion is a subject of great concerns. The present study reviews the state-of-art catalysts for NO reduction by CO, CH4, and H2. In terms of NO reduction by CO and CH4, it focuses on the preparation methodologies and catalytic properties of noble metal catalysts and non-noble metal catalysts. In the technology of NO removal by H2, the NO removal performance of the noble metal catalyst is mainly discussed from the traditional carrier and the new carrier, such as Al2O3, ZSM-5, OMS-2, MOFs, perovskite oxide, etc. By adopting new preparation methodologies and introducing the secondary metal component, the catalysts supported by a traditional carrier could achieve a much higher activity. New carrier for catalyst design seems a promising aspect for improving the catalyst performance, i.e., catalytic activity and stability, in future. Moreover, mechanisms of catalytic NO reduction by these three agents are discussed in-depth. Through the critical review, it is found that the adsorption of NOx and the decomposition of NO are key steps in NO removal by CO, and the activation of the C-H bond in CH4 and H-H bonds in H2 serves as a rate determining step of the reaction of NO removal by CH4 and H2, respectively.

Mechanistic insights into NO‒H2 reaction over Pt/boron-doped graphene catalyst

This work presents a systematical experimental and density functional theory (DFT) studies to reveal the mechanism of NO reduction by H₂ reaction over platinum nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on boron-doped graphene (denoted as Pt/BG) catalyst. Both characterizations and DFT calculations identified boron (in Pt/BG) as an additional NO adsorption site other than the widely recognized Pt NPs. Moreover, BG led to a decrease of Pt NPs size in Pt/BG, which facilitated hydrogen spillover. The mathematical and physical criteria of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood dual-site kinetic model over the Pt/BG were satisfied, indicating that adsorbed NO on boron (in Pt/BG) was further activated by H-spillover. On the other hand, Pt/graphene (Pt/Gr) demonstrated a typical Langmuir-Hinshelwood single-site mechanism where Pt NPs solely served as active sites for NO adsorption. This work helps understand NO-H₂ reaction over Pt/BG and Pt/Gr catalysts in a closely mechanistic view and provides new insights into roles of active sites for improving the design of catalysts for NO abatement.

SO2 Resisting Pd-doped Pr1-x Cex MnO3 Perovskites for Efficient Denitration at Low Temperature

H₂ -SCR is served as the promising technology for the controlling of NO_x emission, and the Pd-based derivative catalyst exhibited high NO_x reduction performance. Effectively regulating the electronic configuration of the active component is favorable to the rational optimization of noble Pd. In this work, a series of Pr_1-x Ce_x Mn_1-y Pd_y O₃ @Ni were successfully synthesized and exhibited superior NO conversion efficiency at low temperatures. 92.7 % conversion efficiency was achieved at 200 °C over Pr_0.9 Ce_0.1 Mn_0.9 Pd_0.1 O₃ @Ni in the presence of 4 % O₂ with a GHSV of 32000 h^-1 . Meanwhile, the outstanding performance was obtained in the resistance to SO₂ (200 ppm) and H₂ O (8 %). Deduced from the results of XRD, Raman, XPS, and H₂ -TPR, the modification of d orbit states in palladium was confirmed originating from the incorporation in the B site of Pr_0.9 Ce_0.1 Mn_0.9 Pd_0.1 O₃ . The existence of higher valence (Pd³⁺ and Pd⁴⁺ ) than the bivalence in Pr_0.9 Ce_0.1 Mn_0.9 Pd_0.1 O₃ catalyst was evidenced by XPS analysis. Our research provides a new sight into the H₂ -SCR through the higher utilization of Pd.

Meziane K, Kaddouri A, Nguyen HP, Taoufik M. Well-defined surface tungstenocarbyne complex through the reaction of [W(CtBu)(CH2tBu)3] with CeO2: a highly stable precatalyst for NOx reduction with NH3

A highly-efficient NH₃-SCR single site catalyst W(CtBu)(CH₂tBu)₃/CeO_2–200, was prepared by surface organometallic chemistry approach. This catalyst showed high catalytic activity and stability with a broad operational temperature window.

Mechanistic insight into the influence of O2 on N2O formation in the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 over Pd/CeO2 catalyst

O₂ greatly affected the pathway for NO reduction over the Pd/CeO₂ catalyst and resulted in a temperature-dependent NH₃-SCR performance and formation of N₂O.

Understanding the promotional effect of 3d transition metals (Fe, Co, Cu) on Pd/TiO2 for H2-SCR

The addition of 3d transition metal (Fe, Co, Cu) oxides on Pd/TiO₂ catalysts show that the formation of monodentate nitrates is the rate limiting step in the formation of NH_x species, which is active intermediate for the enhancement of H₂-SCR activities.

Technologies for the nitrogen oxides reduction from flue gas: A review

The required energy of the global industry is mostly generated from fossil fuel sources, such as natural gas, gasoline, diesel, oil, and coal. Nitrogen oxides are one of the main air pollutants that are produced from the combustion of fossil fuels in stationary and mobile sources. Development of new technologies to decrease the NO_x emission from exhaust gases is essential due to the harmful effect of NO_x on the environment and human health. Compared with pre-combustion and combustion methods (with <50% NO_x removal efficiency), the post-combustion methods with higher efficiency (above 80%) have attracted more attention in NO_x elimination. This review describes the currently used technologies of NO_x abatement. Different available post-combustion methods of NO_x removal, including selective catalytic reduction (using different types of reducing reagents, including ammonia, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide), selective noncatalytic reduction, wet scrubbing, adsorption, electron beam, nonthermal plasma, and electrochemical reduction of NO_x, are discussed.

Current Catalyst Technology of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) for NOx Removal in South Korea

Recently, air pollution has worsened throughout the world, and as regulations on nitrogen oxides (NOx) are gradually tightened many researchers and industrialists are seeking technologies to cope with them. In order to meet the stringent regulations, research is being actively conducted worldwide to reduce NOx-causing pollution. However, different countries tend to have different research trends because of their regional and industrial environments. In this paper, the results of recent catalyst studies on NOx removal by selective catalytic reduction are reviewed with the sources and regulations applied according to the national characteristics of South Korea. Specifically, we emphasized the three major NOx emissions sources in South Korea such as plant, automobile, and ship industries and the catalyst technologies used.