Project description:Cu2+ ions (ZCu2+ (OH)- , Z2 Cu2+ ) are regarded as the NH3 -SCR (SCR=selective catalytic reduction) active site precursors of Cu-exchanged chabazite (CHA) which is among the best available catalysts for the abatement of NOx from Diesel engines. During SCR operation, copper sites undergo reduction (Reduction half-cycle, RHC: Cu2+ →Cu+ ) and oxidation (Oxidaton half-cycle, OHC: Cu+ →Cu2+ ) semi cycles, whose associated mechanisms are still debated. We recently proposed CO oxidation to CO2 as an effective method to probe the formation of multinuclear Cu2+ species as the initial low-T RHC step. NH3 pre-adsorption determined a net positive effect on the CO2 production: by solvating ZCu2+ (OH)- ions, ammonia enhances their mobility, favoring their coupling to form binuclear complexes which can catalyze the reaction. In this work, dry CO oxidation experiments, preceded by modulated NH3 feed phases, clearly showed that CO2 production enhancements are correlated with the extent of Cu2+ ion solvation by NH3 . Analogies with the SCR-RHC phase are evidenced: the NH3 -Cu2+ presence ensures the characteristic dynamics associated with a second order kinetic dependence on the oxidized Cu2+ fraction. These findings provide novel information on the NH3 role in the low-T SCR redox mechanism and on the nature of the related active catalyst sites.
Project description:The mobility of the copper cations acting as active sites for the selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia in Cu-CHA catalysts varies with temperature and feed composition. Herein, the migration of [Cu(NH3)2]+ complexes between two adjacent cavities of the chabazite structure, including other reactant molecules (NO, O2, H2O, and NH3), in the initial and final cavities is investigated using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations combined with enhanced sampling techniques to describe hopping events from one cage to the other. We find that such diffusion is only significantly hindered by the presence of excess NH3 or NO in the initial cavity, since both reactants form with [Cu(NH3)2]+ stable intermediates which are too bulky to cross the 8-ring windows connecting the cavities. The presence of O2 modifies strongly the interaction of NO with Cu+. At low temperatures, we observe NO detachment from Cu+ and increased mobility of the [Cu(NH3)2]+ complex, while at high temperatures, NO reacts spontaneously with O2 to form NO2. The present simulations give evidence for recent experimental observations, namely, an NH3 inhibition effect on the SCR reaction at low temperatures, and transport limitations of NO and NH3 at high temperatures. Our first principle simulations mimicking operating conditions support the existence of two different reaction mechanisms operating at low and high temperatures, the former involving dimeric Cu(NH3)2-O2-Cu(NH3)2 species and the latter occurring by direct NO oxidation to NO2 in one single cavity.
Project description:The application of Cu-CHA catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx by ammonia (NH3-SCR) in exhaust systems of diesel vehicles requires the use of fuel with low sulfur content, because the Cu-CHA catalysts are poisoned by higher concentrations of SO2. Understanding the mechanism of the interaction between the Cu-CHA catalyst and SO2 is crucial for elucidating the SO2 poisoning and development of efficient catalysts for SCR reactions. Earlier we have shown that SO2 reacts with the [Cu2II(NH3)4O2]2+ complex that is formed in the pores of Cu-CHA upon activation of O2 in the NH3-SCR cycle. In order to determine the products of this reaction, we use X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Cu K-edge and S K-edge, and X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) for Cu-CHA catalysts with 0.8 wt% Cu and 3.2 wt% Cu loadings. We find that the mechanism for SO2 uptake is similar for catalysts with low and high Cu content. We show that the SO2 uptake proceeds via an oxidation of SO2 by the [Cu2II(NH3)4O2]2+ complex, resulting in the formation of different CuI species, which do not react with SO2, and a sulfated CuII complex that is accumulated in the pores of the zeolite. The increase of the SO2 uptake upon addition of oxygen to the SO2-containing feed, evidenced by X-ray adsorbate quantification (XAQ) and temperature-programmed desorption of SO2, is explained by the re-oxidation of the CuI species into the [Cu2II(NH3)4O2]2+ complexes, which makes them available for reaction with SO2.
Project description:The speciation of framework-interacting CuII sites in Cu-chabazite zeolite catalysts active in the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 is studied, to investigate the influence of the Al content on the copper structure and their reactivity towards a NO/O2 mixture. To this aim, three samples with similar Cu densities and different Si/Al ratios (5, 15 and 29) were studied using in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), FTIR and diffuse reflectance UV-Vis during pretreatment in O2 followed by the reaction. XAS and UV-Vis data clearly show the main presence of Z2CuII sites (with Z representing a framework negative charge) at a low Si/Al ratio, as predicted. EXAFS wavelet transform analysis showed a non-negligible fraction of proximal Z2CuII monomers, possibly stabilized into two 6-membered rings within the same cage. These sites are not able to form Cu-nitrates by interaction with NO/O2. By contrast, framework-anchored Z[CuII(NO3)] complexes with a chelating bidentate structure are formed in samples with a higher Si/Al ratio, by reaction of NO/O2 with Z[CuII(OH)] sites or structurally similar mono- or multi-copper Zx[CuIIxOy] sites. Linear combination fit (LCF) analysis of the XAS data showed good agreement between the fraction of Z[CuII(OH)]/Zx[CuIIxOy] sites formed during activation in O2 and that of Z[CuII(NO3)] complexes formed by reaction with NO/O2, further confirming the chemical inertia of Z2CuII towards these reactants in the absence of solvating NH3 molecules.
Project description:The dynamic nature of the copper cations acting as active sites for selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia is investigated using a combined theoretical and spectroscopic approach. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of Cu-CHA catalysts in contact with reactants and intermediates at realistic operating conditions show that only ammonia is able to release Cu+ and Cu2+ cations from their positions coordinated to the zeolite framework, forming mobile Cu+(NH3)2 and Cu2+(NH3)4 complexes that migrate to the center of the cavity. Herein, we give evidence that such mobilization of copper cations modifies the vibrational fingerprint in the 800-1000 cm-1 region of the IR spectra. Bands associated with the lattice asymmetric T-O-T vibrations are perturbed by the presence of coordinated cations, and allow one to experimentally follow the dynamic reorganization of the active sites at operating conditions.
Project description:The reduction of NO x emissions has become one of the most important subjects in environmental protection. Cu-containing SSZ-13 is currently the state-of-the-art catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO x with ammonia (NH3-SCR-DeNO x ). Although the current-generation catalysts reveal enhanced activity and remarkable hydrothermal stability, still open challenges appear. Thus, this review focuses on the progress of Cu-containing SSZ-13 regarding preparation methods, hydrothermal resistance and poisoning as well as reaction mechanisms in NH3-SCR-DeNO x . Remarkably, the paper reviews also the progress of Cu-containing SSZ-13 in the selective ammonia oxidation into nitrogen and water vapor (NH3-SCO). The dynamics in the NH3-SCR-DeNO x and NH3-SCO fields make this review timely.
Project description:Cu-exchanged zeolites rely on mobile solvated Cu+ cations for their catalytic activity, but the role of the framework composition in transport is not fully understood. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations can provide quantitative atomistic insight but are too computationally expensive to explore large length and time scales or diverse compositions. We report a machine-learning interatomic potential that accurately reproduces ab initio results and effectively generalizes to allow multinanosecond simulations of large supercells and diverse chemical compositions. Biased and unbiased simulations of [Cu(NH3)2]+ mobility show that aluminum pairing in eight-membered rings accelerates local hopping and demonstrate that increased NH3 concentration enhances long-range diffusion. The probability of finding two [Cu(NH3)2]+ complexes in the same cage, which is key for SCR-NOx reaction, increases with Cu content and Al content but does not correlate with the long-range mobility of Cu+. Supporting experimental evidence was obtained from reactivity tests of Cu-CHA catalysts with a controlled chemical composition.
Project description:The small pore zeolite chabazite (SSZ-13) in the copper exchanged form is a very efficient material for the selective catalytic reduction by ammonia (NH3) of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the exhaust of lean burn engines, typically diesel powered vehicles. The full mechanism occurring during the NH3-SCR process is currently debated with outstanding questions including the nature and role of the catalytically active sites. Time-resolved operando spectroscopic techniques have been used to provide new level of insights in to the mechanism of NH3-SCR, to show that the origin of stable Cu(I) species under SCR conditions is potentially caused by an interaction between NH3 and the Cu cations located in eight ring sites of the bulk of the zeolite and is independent of the NH3-SCR of NOx occurring at Cu six ring sites within the zeolite.
Project description:Commercial Cu-exchanged small-pore SSZ-13 (Cu-SSZ-13) zeolite catalysts are highly active for the standard selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3. However, their activity is unexpectedly inhibited in the presence of NO2 at low temperatures. This is strikingly distinct from the NO2-accelerated NOx conversion over other typical SCR catalyst systems. Here, we combine kinetic experiments, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to obtain direct evidence that under reaction conditions, strong oxidation by NO2 forces Cu ions to exist mainly as CuII species (fw-Cu2+ and NH3-solvated CuII with high CNs), which impedes the mobility of Cu species. The SCR reaction occurring at these CuII sites with weak mobility shows a higher energy barrier than that of the standard SCR reaction on dynamic binuclear sites. Moreover, the NO2-involved SCR reaction tends to occur at the Brønsted acid sites (BASs) rather than the CuII sites. This work clearly explains the strikingly distinctive selective catalytic behavior in this zeolite system.
Project description:To understand the degradation mechanism of the copper-ion-exchanged SSZ-13 (Cu-SSZ-13) is of high significance for rationally designing a zeolitic catalyst for ammonia-selective catalytic reduction of NO x (NH3-SCR). In this work, we focused on an Al-rich Cu-SSZ-13 and studied its structural degradation under hydrothermal conditions through a set of characterization techniques, including in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), pair distribution function analysis and transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (TEM-EDX). The results indicated that the chabazite structure tends to contract in the c direction upon hydrothermal treatment and consequently leads to the collapse of the four-membered ring. Such a structure change then results in the movement of isolated Cu2+ species from the face of the double six-membered ring to its center, which damages the structure further. However, the larger rings (6MRs and 8MRs) partially remain during the structure degradation, which possibly explains that some of the isolated Cu2+ species are alive even when the XRD-detectable crystallinity completely loses. The particle-by-particle observations through TEM-EDX analysis suggested that the occurrence of structural degradation differs remarkably from one individual particle to another. In general, particles with smaller size, having a lower Si/Al ratio and a higher Cu/Al ratio, tend to degrade easily. These results offer a thorough understanding of the structural degradation of Cu-SSZ-13 from the microscopic point of view and point out that the uniformity in composition and particle size of the zeolites plays a critical role in the early-stage degradation.