Investigation of CO oxidation and NO reduction on three-way monolith catalysts with transient response techniques

The kinetics of CO oxidation and NO reduction reactions over alumina and alumina-ceria supported Pt, Rh and bimetallic Pt/Rh catalysts coated on metallic monoliths were investigated using the step response technique at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures 30–350°C. The feed step change experiments from an inert flow to a flow of a reagent (O₂, CO, NO and H₂) showed that the ceria promoted catalysts had higher adsorption capacities, higher reaction rates and promoting effects by preventing the inhibitory effects of reactants, than the alumina supported noble metal catalysts. The effect of ceria was explained with adsorbate spillover from the noble metal sites to ceria. The step change experiments CO/O₂ and O₂/CO also revealed the enhancing effect of ceria. The step change experiments NO/H₂ and H₂/NO gave nitrogen as a main reduction product and N₂O as a by-product. Preadsorption of NO on the catalyst surface decreased the catalyst activity in the reduction of NO with H₂. The CO oxidation transients were modeled with a mechanism which consistent of CO and O₂ adsorption and a surface reaction step. The NO reduction experiments with H₂ revealed the role of N₂O as a surface intermediate in the formation of N₂. The formation of NN bonding was assumed to take place prior to, partly prior to or totally following to the NO bond breakage. High NO coverage favors N₂O formation. Pt was shown to be more efficient than Rh for NO reduction by H₂.     

FTIR study of aqueous nitrate reduction over Pd/TiO2

The interactions between Pd/TiO₂ catalyst and the reactants and potential reaction intermediates present during aqueous nitrate reduction, including NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻ and NO in the presence of H₂ and H₂O were studied by infrared spectroscopy. Adsorbed forms of NO, nitrite and nitrate could all be detected in the presence of water. In the presence of water/H₂, nitrate was the most stable surface species followed by nitrite and then highly reactive NO, suggesting that the reduction of nitrate to nitrite is the rate-limiting step. High concentrations of adsorbed nitrite appear to be linked to the detection of gaseous N₂O while the formation of ammonia is related to reactions on the Pd surface and the extent of formation is linked to high levels of adsorbed NO in addition to the surface hydrogen availability and the presence of water.     

Reduction of nitrogen oxides by carbon monoxide over an iron oxide catalyst under dynamic conditions

The reduction of NO and N₂O by CO over a silica-supported iron oxide catalyst was investigated by the transient response method, with different initial oxidation states of the catalyst, i.e. completely reduced (Fe₃O₄), or oxidised (Fe₂O₃). The influence of CO pre-adsorption was also studied. From the material balance on the gas phase species, it was shown that the composition of the catalyst changes during relaxation to steady-state. The degree of reduction of the catalyst at steady-state could thus be estimated. During the transient period, CO was shown to inhibit N₂O as well as NO reductions by adsorption on reduced sites. The activity of the reduced catalyst was found to be substantially higher as compared to the oxidised catalyst for both reactions. On this basis, it was attempted to keep the catalyst in a reduced state by periodically reducing it with CO. As a result, a significant increase in the performance of the reactor with respect to steady-state operation could be achieved for N₂O reduction by CO. Finally, the dynamic behaviour of the N₂O–CO and NO–CO reactions made it possible to evidence reaction steps, the occurrence of which could not be shown during our previous investigations on the separate interactions of the reactants with the catalyst.     

Promotion of the catalytic activity of a Ag/Al2O3 catalyst for the N2O + CO reaction by the addition of Rh a comparative activity tests and kinetic study

Preliminary activity tests show a synergic effect on the yield of the N₂O+CO reaction by the addition of small quantities of rhodium in a Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst. An analytical comparative kinetic study over Rh/Al₂O₃, Ag/Al₂O₃ and Rh-Ag/Al₂O₃ was performed in order to explain this effect. The reaction kinetics seems to follow a L–H mechanism with competitive adsorption of N₂O and CO over the rhodium catalyst, where a strong CO inhibition effect was obvious. On the two other catalysts (silver and mixed) a L–H mechanism with the reactants adsorbed in different active sites seems to be followed. The kinetic, adsorption and thermodynamic constants were calculated and compared. From the results it seems that the synergic effect is connected with an increase of the activity of rhodium since silver offers more active sites for CO adsorption and removes the inhibition effect, while rhodium offers more active sites for both reactants to be adsorbed. The above findings show that there are no strong interactions (e.g. alloying) between silver and rhodium for the catalyst prepared by the method and active constituents concentrations of this study.     

Reduction of NO by hydrogen versus reduction by CO over Pt, Pd and Rh clusters in NaX zeolite

The activation of hydrogen and CO was examined using D₂+H₂ equilibration at room temperature and by ¹³CO+C¹⁸O scrambling at 170°C, respectively, the adsorption of NO at room temperature and its TPD were used to characterise the activation of NO. These reactions were compared with the NO reduction by carbon monoxide and by hydrogen. It appeared that the M/NaX clusters (M=Pt, Rh or Pd) exhibit opposite behaviour in the NO reduction by these two reductants: with CO the sequence was RhPdPt, while platinum (Pt/NaX) was the most active catalyst (PtPd>Rh) when hydrogen was employed.

The CO scrambling was found to be most rapid over Pt, while the adsorption and dissociation of NO was most extensive over Rh; in the NO reduction by CO the weak CO activation over Rh was overwhelmed by the strong NO dissociation. On the other hand, the extensive NO adsorption and dissociation over Rh hindered the dissociation of hydrogen, which resulted in the lowest activity in the NO reduction by H₂ accompanied by an intermediate formation of N₂O. This was not the case with Pt, over which easily dissociated hydrogen reacted with probably molecularly adsorbed NO.

The reduction of N₂O by hydrogen proceeded readily over all metallic clusters at room temperature, being thus, either of the same activity as that of NO+H₂ reaction, or even of higher activity over Pd and especially over Rh. The easy reduction of N₂O by hydrogen does not agree with the reduction by CO, which was found to proceed worse than that of NO.

In some cases, also bimetallic species (PtRh/NaX, PtPd/NaX, PdRh/NaX) were employed, as well as oxidized M clusters.     

Contribution to the mechanism of NO reduction by CO over Pt/NaX zeolite

The reaction of NO + CO was studied over Pt/NaX prepared by the decomposition of [Pt(NH₃)₄]²⁺. The decomposition was carried out via calcination followed by reduction, by vacuum decomposition, and by decomposition in hydrogen, by ways which are known to lead to the formation of Pt clusters of different sizes and location. The NO reduction by CO was studied under static conditions for longer (20–30 min) and shorter (100 s) time intervals, and the reaction was followed by temperature programmed decomposition (TPD) of species adsorbed during the preceding isothermal reactions. The effect of various NO/CO ratios and of added oxygen was examined. The reactions of N₂O + CO were compared with those of NO + CO. The increasing size of Pt clusters enhances the reduction of NO by CO, but it is complicated at lower reaction temperatures (below 230°C) by the poisoning of active Pt centres, especially by adsorbed CO. Smaller Pt clusters exhibit higher preference towards NO adsorption from NO + CO mixtures than the larger Pt clusters. The incomplete reduction of NO to N₂O proceeds under our experimental conditions below 230°C, and is accompanied by the formation of adsorbed species. N₂O formation is enhanced by the increased NO/CO ratio and by the addition of oxygen. The reduction of nitrous oxide occurs much slower than that of nitric oxide, and therefore N₂O could play a role only as a surface intermediate in the CO + NO reaction.     

Catalytic reduction of N2O over steam-activated FeZSM-5 zeolite: Comparison of CH4, CO, and their mixtures as reductants with or without excess O2

The catalytic reduction of N₂O by CH₄, CO, and their mixtures has been comparatively investigated over steam-activated FeZSM-5 zeolite. The influence of the molar feed ratio between N₂O and the reducing agents, the gas-hourly space velocity, and the presence of O₂ on the catalytic performance were studied in the temperature range of 475–850 K. The CH₄ is more efficient than CO for N₂O reduction, achieving the same degree of conversion at significantly lower temperatures. The apparent activation energy for N₂O reduction by CH₄ was very similar to that of direct N₂O decomposition (140 kJ mol⁻¹), being much lower for the N₂O reduction by CO (60 kJ mol⁻¹). This suggests that the reactions have a markedly different mechanism. Addition of CO using equimolar mixtures in the ternary N₂O + CH₄ + CO system did not affect the N₂O conversion with respect to the binary N₂O + CH₄ system, indicating that CO does not interfere in the low-temperature reduction of N₂O by CH₄. In the ternary system, CO contributed to N₂O reduction when methane was the limiting reactant. The conversion and selectivity of the reactions of N₂O with CH₄, CO, and their mixtures were not altered upon adding excess O₂ in the feed.     

Catalytic decomposition of N2O over CeO2 promoted Co3O4 spinel catalyst

A series of CeO₂ promoted cobalt spinel catalysts were prepared by the co-precipitation method and tested for the decomposition of nitrous oxide (N₂O). Addition of CeO₂ to Co₃O₄ led to an improvement in the catalytic activity for N₂O decomposition. The catalyst was most active when the molar ratio of Ce/Co was around 0.05. Complete N₂O conversion could be attained over the CoCe0.05 catalyst below 400 °C even in the presence of O₂, H₂O or NO. Methods of XRD, FE-SEM, BET, XPS, H₂-TPR and O₂-TPD were used to characterize these catalysts. The analytical results indicated that the addition of CeO₂ could increase the surface area of Co₃O₄, and then improve the reduction of Co³⁺ to Co²⁺ by facilitating the desorption of adsorbed oxygen species, which is the rate-determining step of the N₂O decomposition over cobalt spinel catalyst. We conclude that these effects, caused by the addition of CeO₂, are responsible for the enhancement of catalytic activity of Co₃O₄.     

High thermal conductive β-SiC for selective oxidation of H2S: A new support for exothermal reactions

This study aims at synthesizing a new by substituting 1 atom% Pd²⁺ in ionic state in TiO₂ in the form of Ti_0.99Pd_0.01O_1.99 with oxide-ion vacancy. The catalyst was synthesized by solution combustion method and was characterized by XRD and XPS. The catalytic activity was investigated by performing CO oxidation, hydrocarbon oxidation and NO reduction. A reaction mechanism for CO oxidation by O₂ and NO reduction by CO was proposed. The model based on CO adsorption on Pd²⁺ and dissociative chemisorption of O₂ in the oxide-ion vacancy for CO oxidation reaction fitted the experimental for CO oxidation. For NO reduction in presence of CO, the model based on competitive adsorption of NO and CO on Pd²⁺, NO chemisorption and dissociation on oxide-ion vacancy fitted the experimental data. The rate parameters obtained from the model indicated that the reactions were much faster over this catalyst compared to other catalysts reported in the literature. The selectivity of N₂, defined as the ratio of the formation of N₂ and formation of N₂ and N₂O, was very high compared to other catalysts and 100% selectivity was reached at temperature of 350 °C and above. As the N₂O + CO reaction is an intermediate reaction for NO + CO reaction, it was also studied as an isolated reaction and the rate of the isolated reaction was less than that of intermediate reaction.     

Characterization and reactivity of pure TiO2–SO4 SCR catalyst: influence of SO4 content

The kinetics of the reaction of NO, N₂O and CO₂ with activated carbon without catalyst and impregnated with a precursor salt of vanadium (ammonium monovanadate) was investigated. The conversion of NO, N₂O and CO₂ was studied (450–900°C) using a TGA apparatus and a fixed bed reactor. The reactor effluents were analysed using a GC/MS on line. The addition of vanadium increased carbon reactivity and adsorption at lower temperatures. For NO and N₂O conversion the main products obtained were N₂, N₂O, CO and CO₂ but for CO₂ conversion only CO was detected. In situ XRD was a useful tool for interpreting catalyst behaviour and identifying phases present during reaction conditions. The catalytic effect of vanadium can be explained by the occurrence of redox processes in which the catalyst is reduced to lower oxidation states such as V₂O₅/V₆O₁₃.     

Mechanistic insights into the formation of N2O and N2 in NO reduction by NH3 over a polycrystalline platinum catalyst

The reaction pathways of N₂ and N₂O formation in the direct decomposition and reduction of NO by NH₃ were investigated over a polycrystalline Pt catalyst between 323 and 973 K by transient experiments using the temporal analysis of products (TAP-2) reactor. The interaction between nitric oxide and ammonia was studied in the sequential pulse mode applying ¹⁵NO. Differently labelled nitrogen and nitrous oxide molecules were detected. In both, direct NO decomposition and NH₃–NO interaction, N₂O formation was most marked between 573 and 673 K, whereas N₂ formation dominated at higher temperatures. An unusual interruption of nitrogen formation in the ¹⁵NO pulse at 473 K was caused by an inhibiting effect of adsorbed NO species. The detailed analysis of the product distribution at this temperature clearly indicates different reaction pathways leading to the product formation. Nitrogen formation occurs via recombination of nitrogen atoms formed by dissociation of nitric oxide or/and complete dehydrogenation of ammonia. N₂O is formed via recombination of adsorbed NO molecules. Additionally, both products are formed via interactions between adsorbed ammonia fragments and nitric oxide.     

Inhibition effect of H2O on V2O5/AC catalyst for catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 at low temperature

The inhibition effect of H₂O on V₂O₅/AC catalyst for NO reduction with NH₃ is studied at temperatures up to 250 °C through TPD, elemental analyses, temperature-programmed surface reaction (TPSR) and FT-IR analyses. The results show that H₂O does not reduce NO and NH₃ adsorption on V₂O₅/AC catalyst surface, but promotes NH₃ adsorption due to increases in Brønsted acid sites. Many kinds of NH₃ forms present on the catalyst surface, but only NH₄⁺ on Brønsted acid sites and a small portion of NH₃ on Lewis acid sites are reactive with NO at 250 °C or below, and most of the NH₃ on Lewis acid sites does not react with NO, regardless the presence of H₂O in the feed gas. H₂O inhibits the SCR reaction between the NH₃ on the Lewis acid sites and NO, and the inhibition effect increases with increasing H₂O content. The inhibition effect is reversible and H₂O does not poison the V₂O₅/AC catalyst.     

Influence of CO2 and H2O on NOx storage and reduction on a Pt–Ba/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

In this paper, the effect of CO₂ and H₂O on NO_x storage and reduction over a Pt–Ba/γ-Al₂O₃ (1 wt.% Pt and 30 wt.% Ba) catalyst is shown. The experimental results reveal that in the presence of CO₂ and H₂O, NO_x is stored on BaCO₃ sites only. Moreover, H₂O inhibits the NO oxidation capability of the catalyst and no NO₂ formation is observed. Only 16% of the total barium is utilized in NO storage. The rich phase shows 95% selectivity towards N₂ as well as complete regeneration of stored NO. In the presence of CO₂, NO is oxidized into NO₂ and more NO_x is stored as in the presence of H₂O, resulting in 30% barium utilization. Bulk barium sites are inactive in NO_x trapping in the presence of CO₂·NH₃ formation is seen in the rich phase and the selectivity towards N₂ is 83%. Ba(NO₃)₂ is always completely regenerated during the subsequent rich phase. In the absence of CO₂ and H₂O, both surface and bulk barium sites are active in NO_x storage. As lean/rich cycling proceeds, the selectivity towards N₂ in the rich phase decreases from 82% to 47% and the N balance for successive lean/rich cycles shows incomplete regeneration of the catalyst. This incomplete regeneration along with a 40% decrease in the Pt dispersion and BET surface area, explains the observed decrease in NO_x storage.     

The role of carbon surface chemistry in N2O conversion to N2 over Ni catalyst supported on activated carbon

The effect of acidic treatments on N₂O reduction over Ni catalysts supported on activated carbon was systematically studied. The catalysts were characterized by N₂ adsorption, mass titration, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS). It is found that surface chemistry plays an important role in N₂O-carbon reaction catalyzed by Ni catalyst. HNO₃ treatment produces more active acidic surface groups such as carboxyl and lactone, resulting in a more uniform catalyst dispersion and higher catalytic activity. However, HCl treatment decreases active acidic groups and increases the inactive groups, playing an opposite role in the catalyst dispersion and catalytic activity. A thorough discussion of the mechanism of the N₂O catalytic reduction is made based upon results from isothermal reactions, temperature-programmed reactions (TPR) and characterization of catalysts. The effect of acidic treatment on pore structure is also discussed.     

NO–NH3 coadsorption on vanadia/titania catalysts: determination of the reduction degree of vanadium

Diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) has been used to study NH₃ and NO adsorption over a 15% w/w vanadia/titania catalyst. NH₃ is adsorbed as coordinate NH₃ and NH₄⁺ species over the oxidised catalyst, leading to the reduction of the vanadia surface. At 300°C, adsorbed nitrosyls species are detected, suggesting that the oxidation of gaseous or adsorbed ammonia species takes place over the V=O sites. Coadsorption experiments show that NO is able to reoxidise about the 57% of the reduced V=O groups, resulting in N₂, according to a NO+V_□→1/2N₂+V=O reaction. On the other hand, NO is only adsorbed over vanadia reduced surfaces. The measure of the area of the 2ν(V=O) bands results in an estimate of the oxidation state of vanadium. From this estimate it can be concluded that nitrosyls species are adsorbed on the catalyst surface for vanadium atoms having an oxidation state ranging from +4 to +3.1.     

Influence of NH3 and NO oxidation on the SCR reaction mechanism on copper/nickel and vanadium oxide catalysts supported on alumina and titania

The influence of ammonia and nitric oxide oxidation on the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by ammonia with copper/nickel and vanadium oxide catalysts, supported on titania or alumina have been investigated, paying special attention to N₂O formation. In the SCR reaction, the VTi catalyst had a higher activity than VAl at low temperatures, while the CuNiAl catalyst had a higher activity than CuNiTi. A linear relationship between the reaction rate of ammonia oxidation and the initial reduction temperature of the catalysts obtained by H₂-TPR showed that the formation rate of NH species in copper/nickel catalysts would be higher than in vanadia catalysts. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) showed that copper/nickel catalysts presented ammonia coordinated on Lewis acid sites, whereas ammonium ion adsorbed on Brønsted acid sites dominated on vanadia catalysts. The NO oxidation experiments revealed that copper/nickel catalysts had an increase of the NO₂ and N₂O concentrations with the temperature. NO could be adsorbed on copper/nickel catalysts and the NO₂ intermediate species could play an important role in the reaction mechanism. It was suggested that the presence of adsorbed NO₂ species could be related to the N₂O formation.     

Nitrous oxide formation in low temperature selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides with V2O5/TiO2 catalysts

Nitric oxide and nitric dioxide compounds (NO_x) present in stack gases from nitric acid plants are usually eliminated by selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with ammonia. In this process, small quantities of nitrous oxide (N₂O) are produced. This undesirable molecule has a high greenhouse gas potential and a long lifetime in the atmosphere, where it can contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion. The influence of catalyst composition and some operating variables were evaluated in terms of N₂O formation, using V₂O₅/TiO₂ catalysts. High vanadia catalyst loading, nitric oxide inlet concentration and reaction temperature increase the generation of this undesirable compound. The results suggest that adsorbed ammonia not only reacts with NO via SCR, but also with small quantities of oxygen activated by the presence of NO. The mechanism proposed for N₂O generation at low temperature is based on the formation of surface V–ON species which may be produced by the partial oxidation of dissociatively adsorbed ammonia species with NO + O₂ (eventually NO₂). When these active sites are in close proximity they can interact to form an N₂O molecule. This mechanism seems to be affected by changes in the active site density produced by increasing the catalyst vanadia loading.     

Effect of different oxygen species originating from the dissociation of O2, N2O and NO on the selectivity of the Pt-catalysed NH3 oxidation

An effect of oxygen species formed from O₂, N₂O and NO on the selectivity of the catalytic oxidation of ammonia was studied over a polycrystalline Pt catalyst using the temporal analysis of products (TAP) reactor. The transient experiments were performed in the temperature range between 773 and 1073 K in a sequential pulse mode with a time interval of 0.2 s between the pulses of the oxidant (O₂, N₂O and NO) and NH₃. In contrast to adsorbed oxygen species formed from NO, those from O₂ and N₂O reacted with ammonia yielding NO. It is suggested that the difference between these oxidising agents may be related to the different active sites for dissociation of O₂, N₂O and NO, where oxygen species of various Pt-O strength are formed. Weaker bound oxygen species, which are active for NO formation, originate from O₂ and N₂O rather than from NO. These species may be of bi-atomic nature.     

Decomposition of NO and N2O on Cu-AlTS-1: oscillatory behaviour at full N2O conversion

Cu-AlTS-1 catalyst was prepared by solid state ion exchange and studied in the NO and N₂O decomposition. Oscillation was observed in a wide range of experimental conditions during the decomposition of N₂O. At full N₂O conversion, oscillations were observed only in the O₂ and NO concentrations the latter being out of phase with respect to O₂ and being originated from the decomposition of an excess oxygen containing nitrito–nitrato-like surface complex. Traces of NO extinguished the oscillations and increased the N₂O conversion if it was below 100%. The NO also plays a key role in the feed back and synchronisation.     

单分散Co3O4@SiO2核壳催化剂的制备及N2O催化分解性能

N₂O是一种重要的温室气体,且对臭氧层有很大的破坏作用,而直接催化分解法是除去N₂O最经济有效的方法之一。针对目前报道较多的钴氧化物催化剂活性较差的问题,将包覆型Co₃O₄核壳材料引入N₂O直接催化分解反应,利用核壳结构的限域特性与壳层的多孔孔道使Co₃O₄分散性增加,粒径减小,金属载体相互作用与接触反应界面增强,从而提高了催化剂在N₂O直接催化分解反应中的低温活性。此外,还制备了一系列不同金属含量的Co₃O₄@SiO₂球形核壳催化剂来研究包覆结构对催化剂性能的影响,通过X射线荧光光谱（XRF）、透射电镜（TEM）、X射线衍射（XRD）、N₂物理吸附、H₂-程序升温还原（H₂-TPR）等表征,证实在保证稳定单分散核壳结构的前提下,活性Co₃O₄位点越多,催化剂反应活性越好。