Next Article in Journal
Insights into the Metal Salt Catalyzed 5-Ethoxymethylfurfural Synthesis from Carbohydrates
Next Article in Special Issue
Hydrothermal Carbonation Carbon-Coated CdS Nanocomposite with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity and Stability
Previous Article in Journal
Preparation of ZnO-Loaded Lignin-Based Carbon Fiber for the Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Hydroquinone
Previous Article in Special Issue
Near-Graphite Coke Deposit on Nano-HZSM-5 Aggregates for Methanol to Propylene and Butylene Reaction
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Catalysts
Volume 7
Issue 6
10.3390/catal7060181
catalysts-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Effect of Ce/Y Addition on Low-Temperature SCR Activity and SO2 and H2O Resistance of MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs Catalysts

by
Lifu Dong
1,
Yinming Fan
1,
Wei Ling
1,
Chao Yang
1 and
Bichun Huang
1,2,3,*
1
School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, China
2
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, China
3
The Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Catalysts 2017, 7(6), 181; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7060181
Submission received: 10 March 2017 / Revised: 27 April 2017 / Accepted: 23 May 2017 / Published: 8 June 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials for Applications in Heterogeneous Catalysis)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The effects of SO2 and H2O on the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (SCR) activity over MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs and MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs catalysts modified by Ce or Y was studied. MnCeZr and MnYZr catalysts reached nearly 100% and 93.9% NOx conversions at 200 °C and 240 °C, respectively. They displayed a better SO2 tolerance, and the effect of H2O was negligible. The structural properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, H2-TPR, XPS, and FTIR before and after the reaction. The results showed that Ce could increase the mobility of the oxygen and improve the valence and the oxidizability of manganese, while the effect of Y was the opposite. This might be the main reason why the catalytic activity of MnCeZr was better than MnYZr in the presence or absence of SO2 and H2O. Doping Ce or Y broadened the active temperature window. Ce or Y, which existed in the catalysts with a high dispersion or at the amorphous state, preferred to react with SO2 to form sulfate species, and protected the manganese active sites from combing with SO2 to some extent, which coincided with the theory of ionic polarization.

1. Introduction

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology is widely used to remove nitrogen oxides from flue gas and has the advantages of stability and efficiency [1,2]. Catalysts are a crucial factor in SCR technology and directly determine the efficiency of the system. However, conventional commercial catalysts (V2O5-WO3(MoO3)/TiO2) have a relatively narrow temperature window of 300–400 °C, and they are not active at the typical temperature of flue gases (≤250 °C) in the catalytic bed located downstream of the desulfurizer and particulate removal device, and will be deactivated by SO2 and H2O [1,3,4]. Therefore, there is great interests in developing new catalysts which are active at relatively low temperatures and have better resistance to SO2 and H2O. Some transition metal oxides (Fe, V, Cr, Cu, Mn) supported on catalysts have been found with high activities at low temperatures [5,6,7,8,9]. Among them, Mn-based catalysts have been investigated in depth via several means because manganese oxides contain various kinds of labile oxygen, which is beneficial for the fulfillment of the catalytic cycle [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. MnO2 is the most active species among MnO2, Mn5O8, Mn2O3, and Mn3O4 [17].
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been extensively studied in low temperature SCR reactions based on their unusual physical and chemical proprieties, such as their unique electronic properties, special structure, higher surface areas, and so on [18,19]. In our previous study, Zr and Mn supported on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for NH3-SCR reactions showed high activity at low temperatures. The modification of zirconium could increase the dispersion of MnOx on the MWCNTs, the specific surface area, the total pore volume and the average pore size of the catalysts. The modification of zirconium could also enhance the atomic concentration of chemisorbed oxygen on the catalyst surface and promote the conversion of Mn3+ to Mn4+. Therefore, the amounts of the active sites on the surface and the redox ability of the catalysts were improved. Additionally, the amounts and strength of acid on the surface of the catalysts were increased. However, their SCR activity was reduced in the presence of SO2 and H2O. Catalysts were deactivated by the formation of (NH4)2SO3 and NH4HSO4 which did not decompose at low temperatures and blocked the pore channels of the catalysts or the competitive adsorption with NO [20,21,22,23,24,25,26]. H2O inhibited the SCR reaction due to its competitive adsorption with NH3 on the Lewis sites [27,28].
According to the theory of ionic polarization [29], the formation of a metal sulfate can be regarded as the inverse process of metal sulfate decomposition (Equation (1)). If MeSO4 is harder to decompose, MeSO4 is more stable and it is easier for Me and SO3 to form MeSO4. If the decomposition temperature of MeSO4 is higher than that of manganese sulfate, Me prefers to combine with SO3 over Mn. The decomposition temperature of ceric sulfate (973 °C) and yttrium sulfate (976 °C) were higher than manganese sulfate (814–928 °C), which indicates that ceric sulfate and yttrium sulfate are more easily formed than manganese sulfate, and manganese sites over these catalysts can be protected. Therefore, Ce and Y were selected to improve the tolerance of catalysts caused by SO2 and H2O.
MeSO4→MeO(s) + SO3
MnOx-CeOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs(MnCeZr) and MnOx-YOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs(MnYZr) catalysts were prepared in this study by using the step impregnation method. The role of Ce/Y, the influences of SO2 and H2O over these MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs(MnZr), MnCeZr, and MnYZr, and finally the structural property and reducibility of the catalysts are discussed. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), H2 temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used in this study.

2. Results and Discussion

2.1. SCR Performance

NH3-SCR activity experiments over the MnZr, MnCeZr, and MnYZr catalysts were carried out, as depicted in Figure 1. The results showed that the activities of the catalysts were significantly improved and had obvious differences in NOx conversion with the increasing temperature. Nearly 100% of NOx conversion over the MnCeZr catalyst occurred at 200 °C, while the maximum NOx conversions over MnZr and MnYZr were 93.6% at 200 °C and 99.3% at 240 °C, respectively. The NOx conversions remained above 90% over MnZr, MnCeZr, and MnYZr catalysts in the temperature range of 190–220 °C, 170–270 °C, and 220–270 °C, respectively. According to the experimental data, the addition of Ce on MnZr catalysts improved the catalytic activity significantly while Y gave the opposite effect. However, they both enlarged the active temperature windows of the catalysts.

2.2. Effect of SO2 on SCR Catalytic Activity

Figure 2 shows the effect of SO2 on the NOx conversion over MnZr, MnCeZr and MnYZr catalysts. The NOx conversion decreased as SO2 was introduced into the system. The NOx conversion of MnZr showed a relatively faster deactivation, and decreased from 88.6% to 37.4% after 20 min in the presence of SO2. In contrast, the NOx conversions of MnCeZr and MnYZr decreased to 85% and 74.8%, respectively. Their NOx conversion declined slowly and were maintained above 60% for the next 105 min, respectively. It can be deduced from Figure 2 that the poisoning of SO2 on the SCR activity of the catalysts was most likely caused by the sulfation of the active sites. This coincides with the work of Pan [24]. The addition of Ce or Y on MnZr slowed the sulfation progress and resulted in the improvement of SO2 resistance. Furthermore, it was evident that the catalytic activity of MnCeZr was better than that of MnYZr in the reactions. When SO2 was absent from the feed gas, the NOx conversion could not be recovered. This indicated that the deactivation caused by SO2 was irreversible.

2.3. Effect of H2O on SCR Catalytic Activity

Figure 2 shows that when 10 vol. % of H2O was continuously introduced into the system, the NOx conversions on MnZr, MnCeZr, and MnYZr had a significant drop in a short time and then remained stable at this level. The NOx conversions on MnCeZr and MnYZr decreased to about 70% and 60%, respectively. When H2O was completely removed from the feed gas, the activity could almost completely recover to its original level. H2O caused a decline in activity and the inhibiting effect of H2O on the SCR activity of the catalysts was reversible.

2.4. Effect of H2O and SO2 on SCR Catalytic Activity

Figure 2 further shows that when 0.01 vol. % of SO2 and 10 vol. % of H2O were introduced into the system, a sharp decline of the NOx conversion from 98.91% to 50.24% on MnCeZr was observed, and then the NOx conversion dropped slowly in the rest time. According to the experimental data, the coexistence of SO2 and H2O deactivated the catalysts more seriously than either in the presence of SO2 or H2O alone. Moreover, the activity was not recovered after cutting off H2O + SO2, implying that the coexistence of H2O and SO2 had a synergistic poisoning effect on the SCR activity.

2.5. XRD Results

Figure 3 displays the XRD patterns of different catalysts at wide diffraction angles. The XRD profiles of MnCeZr and MnYZr remained almost unchanged. ZrO2 and MnOx were the major species after the introduction of Ce or Y, respectively, which indicated that the loading of Ce or Y did not change the structure of MnZr. The only exception was that the XRD pattern of MnCeZr showed a weak peak at 47.5°, representing CeO2 (PDF#34-0394). No other characteristic peaks of Ce and Y compounds over MnCeZr and MnYZr were observed, indicating that Ce and Y were well incorporated and dispersed in the catalysts, or that the formed compounds were not large enough to be detected.
Figure 3 displays the XRD patterns of the fresh and used catalysts with/without loading Ce or Y on MnZr. The peak that appeared at 42.7° can be assigned to the phases of MnSO4 (PDF#35-0751) formed. With the SCR activity results (Figure 2), the newly formed crystal phases MnSO4 on MnZr decreased the SCR activity. However, there were no detectable peaks of MnSO4 for the used MnCeZr and MnYZr, indicating that these sulfate species may exist as amorphous species or do not reach the detection limit.

2.6. H2-TPR Results

Figure 4 shows the H2-TPR results of various fresh catalysts. The three catalysts all present three redox peaks in the temperature ranges of 100–200 °C, 250–400 °C, and 450–700 °C, which correspond to the reduction of the surface oxygen, MnO2 to Mn3O4 and Mn3O4 to MnO, respectively [9,30]. The peak at 325 °C which corresponded to the reduction of MnO2 to Mn3O4 played an important role in the reaction over MnZr [17,31]. It shifted to a lower temperature at 299 °C and a higher temperature at 344 °C over MnCeZr and MnYZr, respectively. Considering the SCR activity (Figure 1), this may have been due to the addition of Ce to MnZr, which improved the mobility of the oxygen as well as the valence and oxidization properties of manganese, while the addition of Y gave the opposite effect [32,33].
Figure 4 displays the H2-TPR results of the fresh and used catalysts when SO2 was introduced to the system. In the case of the MnZr catalysts, the peak of MnO2 to Mn3O4 at 325 °C disappeared while two new peaks at 416 °C and 453 °C appeared after the reaction under SO2 flow. Based on the activity test and characterization results, the poisoning effect of SO2 on the catalysts was directly related to the newly formed sulfate species, which decreased the mobility of the oxygen that led to a decrease in SCR activities [34]. With the addition of Ce or Y to MnZr, the reduction peak of MnO2 to Mn3O4 did not disappear, but became weaker after the reaction under SO2 flow. It may be deduced that the addition of Ce or Y inhibited the formation of sulfate species and protected the active sites to some extent.

2.7. XPS Results

The surface atomic compositions by XPS analysis are given in Table 1. It was noted that surface oxygen on the fresh MnZr catalysts was 7.96% and increased to 9.22% with the addition of Ce while the surface oxygen decreased to 7.23% with Y addition. This is in accordance with H2-TPR results, which indicated that Ce improves the oxygen storage capacity of the catalysts while the effect of Y was opposite. Compared to the fresh catalysts, the manganese concentration in the catalysts declined by 31.3% (MnZr), 18.2% (MnCeZr), and 5.3% (MnYZr) after the reaction under SO2 flow, respectively. The formation of sulfate species on the active sites reduced the amount of surface manganese, which was in accordance with the results of Luo’s study [34]. The results also confirmed that the sulfation of the active sites was inhibited to some extent after loading Ce or Y. Naturally, some sulfur and nitrogen atoms were detected under the XPS measurement on the surface of the used catalysts, which confirmed that sulfate species were formed on the surface of the catalysts.
The XPS spectra for the O 1s species is shown in Figure 5. The peaks at 529.8 and 531.8 eV correspond to the lattice oxygen (Oβ) and the surface oxygen (Oα), respectively [35]. From the calculations, the ratio of (Oα)/(Oα + Oβ) in MnZr (46.1%) was lower than that in MnCeZr (52.4%) and MnYZr (72.6%), respectively. This is owing to the fact that loading Ce or Y increased the defects of metal oxides and oxygen vacancies. [36]. Figure 6 shows the XPS spectra for Mn 2p of the fresh and used catalysts after reacting with SO2. Compared to the fresh catalysts, the Mn 2p1/2 and 2p3/2 peaks of the used MnZr catalysts (Figure 6a) moved from 653.4 eV and 642.2 eV to 654.1 eV and 642.7 eV, respectively. This was due to the sulfation of the manganese, which made the Mn 2p3/2 peak of the Mn/TiO2 catalysts shift towards a higher binding energy (approximately 0.7 eV after SCR with SO2), in accordance with the study of Jin [37]. When loading Ce or Y, the peaks were not significantly varied. The results also further confirmed that the sulfation of manganese was inhibited to some extent after loading Ce or Y. The Ce 3d XPS pattern (Figure S1) indicated that Ce existed as Ce4+ and Ce3+. The characteristic peaks u, u'', u''', v, v'', and v''' corresponded to Ce4+, and peaks u' and v' were attributed to Ce3+ [31]. From the calculations, the ratio of Ce4+/Ce3+ in the used MnCeZr catalysts was lower (from 6.87% to 3.28% after SCR with SO2), which indicated that Ce4+ was partially reduced to Ce3+. The Y 3d XPS pattern (Figure S2) of MnYZr remained almost unchanged after reacting with SO2, which may be interpreted as an indication that the valence of Y was not varied.
The sulfation of the active sites on the catalysts was the process of SO2 combining with the surface oxygen, which was accompanied by changes in the surface oxygen. According to the results of Dupin’s study [38], the binding energy of 527.7–530.6 eV corresponded to the lattice oxygen; 530.6–531.1 eV was ascribed to OH−; and 531.1–532 eV was denoted as O− which could supply the defects of lattice oxygen, such as the oxygen in Mn–O–Ce, Ce=O, and Mn–O–Y species. More than 532 eV was attributed to the weakly adsorbed oxygen in the surface. Surface oxygen of the fresh and used catalysts by XPS analysis is shown in Figure 7. According to the results of XPS, it was observed that the binding energy of 529.8 eV corresponding to the lattice oxygen exhibited the largest peak areas for all samples. Combined with the results of XRD indicating that there were many crystalline phases of ZrO2, it was implied that the peak was attributed to the lattice oxygen of ZrO2. The peaks at 531.2 eV and 532.5 eV of the MnZr catalysts were ascribed to O− and the surface weakly adsorbed oxygen, respectively. Due to the sulfate ions formed after reacting with SO2, these two peaks moved to 531.6 eV and 532.8 eV, respectively, while a new peak appeared at 530.6 eV, corresponding to OH− at the same time. This was caused by the decomposition of the formed sulfate ions. This phenomenon was also observed on the catalysts after loading Ce or Y. The peak at 529.2 eV, which was ascribed to the disappearance of the oxygen of CeO2 over the MnCeZr catalysts, indicated that a large number of CeO2 was consumed after SCR with SO2. Table 2 shows the proportions of different O species obtained by the peak fitting of the O 1s curves. The O 1s peaks were numbered as O 1s 1, O 1s 2, O 1s 3, and O 1s 4, from low to high binding energy. According to the experimental data, the lattice oxygen and the surface oxygen showed a significant decrease after reacting with SO2, while OH− and O− increased. This may be caused by the hydrolyzation of the sulfate ions.
According to the results of XRD, H2-TPR, and XPS, it was concluded that SO2 combined with Ce or Y easily compared with Mn on the catalysts. Ce or Y inhibited the formation of manganese sulfate and protected the manganese active sites to some extent.

2.8. FTIR Analysis

To understand the role of Ce or Y better, FTIR experiments were performed. As shown in Figure 8, the spectrum of all fresh catalysts exhibited three characteristic peaks at 3440 cm−1, corresponding to the vibration of –OH units [39,40,41]; at 1645 cm−1, which was ascribed to the stretching vibration of C=C on the surface of MWCNTs [42]; and a broad peak in the 1000–400 cm−1 range, which was attributed to the stretching vibration of metallic oxide groups (Me–O–Me) [43,44]. Compared to the fresh catalysts, a peak around 1102 cm−1, assigned to the SO42− species, appeared after reacting with SO2 [6,45]. From the partial magnification of corresponding FTIR spectra, the peak became weaker after loading Ce or Y, indicating that the addition of Ce or Y may prevent the manganese active sites from being sulfated to some extent [46].

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Pretreatment of MWCNTs

The MWCNTs were purchased from Shenzhen Nanotech Port Co. Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) According to Wang et al. [9], the MWCNTs were pretreated in HNO3 solution by ultrasound for 30 min and heated at 100 °C for 4 h in a water-bath. Subsequently, MWCNTs were treated with filtration and washed by deionized water until the pH was neutral. The last sample was dried at 100 °C overnight for further use.

3.2. Preparation of MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs

The catalysts were prepared by step impregnation methods. Zirconium was supported on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to obtain zirconium-modified MWCNTs. The precursor was zirconium nitrate solution and zirconium loading was 30 wt. %. The sample were calcinated at 400 °C in an N2 atmosphere for 2 h and denoted as ZrO2/MWCNTs. Subsequently, to obtain MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs, 10 wt. % Mn was loaded on ZrO2/MWCNTs by using the same method, for which the precursor was manganese nitrate. The detailed process has been previously described in Reference [47].

3.3. Preparation of Mn-CeOx(YOx)/ZrO2/MWCNTS

MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs were introduced into a beaker containing 20 mL ethanol, and then stirred magnetically for 2 h. Cerium nitrate solution, used as the Ce precursor and controlled at 6 wt. % Ce loading with MWCNTS, was gradually added to the abovementioned mixture at room temperature and stirred for 3 h. The mixture was held under ultrasound for 30 min, then dried in the oven at 60 °C for 12 h. The powder was transferred to a tube furnace and calcined at 400 °C under N2 for 2 h to obtain a Mn-CeOx/ZrO2/MWCNTS composite (denoted as MnCeZr). For comparison, Mn-YOx/ZrO2/MWCNTS (denoted as MnYZr) was prepared using yttrium nitrate as the Y precursor and controlling to 2 wt. % Y loading with MWCNTS by a similar method.

3.4. Catalytic Evaluations

The activity evaluation was carried out in a fixed-bed quartz continuous flow reactor under atmospheric pressure. 150 mg of the MnCeZr and MnYZr catalysts were used in the tests, respectively. The feed gas was composed of 0.06% NO, 0.06% NH3, 0.01% SO2 (when added), 10% H2O (when added) and 3.0% O2 balanced by Ar. The total flow rate was 600 mL/min, corresponding to a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 40,000 h−1. The inlet and outlet concentrations of NO/NO2 were analyzed by an online chemiluminescence NO-NO2-NOx analyzer (Thermal Scientific, model 42i-HL). The activity data were recorded when the reactions reached the steady state condition at each temperature. The reaction temperature was controlled from 80 to 300 °C with an isotherm step of 20 °C. The heating rate was about 5 °C/min. NOx conversions were obtained by the following equation:
δ ( NO x ) = ∅ ( NO x ) in − ∅ ( NO x ) out ∅ ( NO x ) in × 100 %
where δ(NOx) represents the NOx conversion; and ϕ(NOx)in and ϕ(NOx)out correspond to the inlet and outlet volume fraction of NOx, respectively.

3.5. Catalyst Characterization

X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) patterns were recorded on a D8 Advace diffractometer (Bruker, Karlsruhe, Germany) with Cu Kα radiation (40 kV, 40 mA). Data were collected between 2θ = 10°–90° with 0.02° steps, and the XRD phases were identified by comparison with the reference data files from the Joint Committee on Power Diffraction Standards (JCPDS).
Hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) of the catalyst was carried out on an Auto Chem II (Micromeritics, Gwinnett County, GA, USA). The samples were first flushed with Ar (30 mL/min) at 350 °C for 1 h. After that, the experiments were carried out at a heating rate of 10 °C/min from 60–700 °C in 10% H2/Ar (30 mL/min). The H2 consumption was recorded by a Thermal Conductivity Detector (TCD).
The chemical state and surface composition of the catalysts were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, Axis Ultra DLD, Kratos, UK). All spectra were acquired at a basic pressure 3.33 × 10−6 Torr with Al Kα radiation (hv = 1253.6 eV) at 15 kV. The binding energy calibration was performed using the C 1s peak in the background as the reference energy (284.6 eV).
A Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscope (Nicolet 6700, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) was used to analyze the functional groups and determine the composition of the samples. Samples were achieved by pressing the mixture of catalysts and KBr. The weight ratio of catalysts: KBr was about 200. The FTIR measurements were performed at 4 cm−1 resolution with an accumulation of 64 scans.

4. Conclusions

The addition of Ce or Y loading on the MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs catalysts were prepared using the step impregnation method. Under simulated SCR reaction conditions, Ce improved the activity of the catalysts while the effect of Y was the opposite, however, they both enlarged the active temperature windows. The inhibition effect of H2O on SCR activity was reversible, while the poisoning of SO2 was more serious and irreversible when Ce or Y existed in the catalysts. This study found that the catalytic activity of MnCeZr was better than MnYZr in the abovementioned reaction conditions. Furthermore, Ce could improve the H2O resistance of the catalysts to some extent, while the effect of Y was not obvious. For the MnCeZr catalysts, the coexistence of SO2 and H2O deactivated the catalysts more seriously than that in the presence of SO2 or H2O alone, implying that the co-existence of H2O and SO2 had a synergistic inhibition effect on SCR activity. Based on the results of XRD, H2-TPR, XPS, and FTIR, Ce or Y existed in the catalysts in high dispersion or amorphous form. Ce could increase the mobility of the oxygen as well as the valence and oxidization of manganese while the effect of Y was the opposite, which may have been the main reason for the better catalytic activity of MnCeZr compared with MnYZr. Ce or Y combined with SO2 easily to form sulfate species on the catalysts compared with Mn, then inhibited the formation of sulfate species and protected the manganese active sites to some extent, which was in accordance with the theory of ionic polarization.

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/7/6/181/s1, Figure S1: Ce 3d of catalysts before and after reaction in the presence of SO2, Figure S2: Y 3d of catalysts before and after reaction in the presence of SO2.

Acknowledgments

The project is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-51478191 and NSFC-20977034) and the Provincial Science and Technology Project (2014A020216003).

Author Contributions

Bichun Huang conceived and designed the experiments; Lifu Dong performed the experiments; Lifu Dong and Yinming Fan analyzed the data; Lifu Dong and Yinming Fan wrote the paper. Chao Yang and Wei Ling contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

  1. Bosch, H.; Jamssen, F. Formation and control of nitrogen oxide. Catal. Today 1988, 2, 369–379. [Google Scholar]
  2. Nova, I.; Ciardelli, C.; Tronconi, E.; Chatterjee, D.; Bandl-Konrad, B. NH3-NO/NO2 chemistry over V-based catalysts and its role in the mechanism of the Fast SCR reaction. Catal. Today 2006, 114, 3–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  3. Giakoumelou, I.; Fountzoula, C.; Kordulis, C.; Boghosian, S. Molecular structure and catalytic activity of V2O5/TiO2 catalysts for the SCR of NO by NH3: In situ Raman spectra in the presence of O2, NH3, NO, H2, H2O, and SO2. J. Catal. 2006, 239, 1–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  4. Fan, X.Y.; Qiu, F.M.; Yang, H.S.; Tian, W.; Hou, T.F.; Zhang, X.B. Selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia over Mn-Ce-Ox/TiO2-carbon nanotube composites. Catal. Commun. 2011, 12, 1298–1301. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  5. Kang, M.; Park, E.D.; Kim, J.M.; Yie, J.E. Manganese oxide catalysts for NOx reduction with NH3 at low temperatures. Appl. Catal. A 2007, 327, 261–269. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  6. Huang, J.H.; Tong, Z.Q.; Huang, Y.; Zhang, J.F. Selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 at low temperatures over iron and manganese oxides supported on mesoporous silica. Appl. Catal. B 2008, 78, 309–314. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  7. Chen, Z.H.; Li, X.H.; Gao, X.; Jiang, Y.B.; Lu, Y.X.; Wang, F.R.; Wang, L.F. Selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 on a Cr-Mn mixed oxide at low temperature. Chin. J. Catal. 2009, 30, 4–6. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  8. Xue, J.J.; Wang, X.Q.; Qi, G.S.; Wang, J.; Shen, M.Q.; Li, W. Characterization of copper species over Cu/SAPO-34 in selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia: Relationships between active Cu sites and de-NOx performance at low temperature. J. Catal. 2013, 297, 56–64. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  9. Wang, L.S.; Huang, B.C.; Su, Y.X.; Zhou, G.Y.; Wang, K.L.; Luo, H.C.; Ye, D.Q. Manganese oxides supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes for selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3: Catalytic activity and characterization. Chem. Eng. J. 2012, 192, 232–241. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  10. Pasel, J.; Kaβner, P.; Montanari, B.; Gazzano, M.; Vaccari, A.; Makowski, W.; Lojewski, T.; Dziembaj, R.; Papp, H. Transition metal oxides supported on active carbons as low temperature catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3. Appl. Catal. B 1998, 18, 199–213. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  11. Tang, X.L.; Hao, J.M.; Yi, H.H.; Ning, P. Low-temperature SCR of NO with NH3 on Mn-based Catalysts Modified with Cerium. J. Rare Earths 2007, 25, 240–243. [Google Scholar]
  12. Jiang, B.Q.; Liu, Y.; Wu, Z.B. Low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO on MnOx/TiO2 prepared by different methods. J. Hazard. Mater. 2009, 162, 1249–1254. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  13. Smirniotis, P.G.; Pena, D.A.; Uphade, B.S. Low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3 by using Mn, Cr, and Cu oxides supported on hombikat TiO2. Ange. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 2479–2482. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Pappas, D.K.; Boningari, T.; Boolchand, P.; Smirniotis, P.G. Novel manganese oxide confined interweaved titania nanotubes for the low-temperature Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx by NH3. J. Catal. 2016, 334, 1–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  15. Boningari, T.; Ettireddy, P.R.; Somogyvari, A.; Liu, Y.; Vorontsov, A.; McDonald, C.A.; Smirniotis, P.G. Influence of elevated surface texture hydrated titania on Ce-doped Mn/TiO2 catalysts for the low-temperature SCR of NOx under oxygen-rich conditions. J. Catal. 2015, 325, 145–155. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  16. Ettireddy, P.R.; Ettireddy, N.; Boningari, T.; Pardemann, R.; Smirniotis, P.G. Investigation of the selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia over Mn/TiO2 catalysts through transient isotopic labeling and in situ FTIR studies. J. Catal. 2012, 292, 53–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  17. Thirupathi, B.; Smirniotis, P.G. Nickel-doped Mn/TiO2 as an efficient catalyst for the low-temperature SCR of NO with NH3: Catalytic evaluation and characterizations. J. Catal. 2012, 288, 74–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  18. Huang, B.; Huang, R.; Jin, D.; Ye, D. Low temperature SCR of NO with NH3 over carbon nanotubes supported vanadium oxides. Catal. Today 2007, 126, 279–283. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  19. Qu, Z.; Miao, L.; Wang, H.; Fu, Q. Highly dispersed Fe2O3 on carbon nanotubes for low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3. Chem. Commun. 2015, 51, 956–958. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  20. Wu, Z.B.; Jin, R.B.; Wang, H.Q.; Liu, Y. Effect of ceria doping on SO2 resistance of Mn/TiO2 for selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 at low temperature. Catal. Commun. 2009, 10, 935–939. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  21. Jin, R.B.; Liu, Y.; Wu, Z.; Wang, H.B.; Gu, T.T. Relationship between SO2 poisoning effects and reaction temperature for selective catalytic reduction of NO over Mn-Ce/TiO2 catalyst. Catal. Today 2010, 153, 84–89. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  22. Li, Q.; Hou, X.X.; Yang, H.S.; Ma, Z.X.; Zheng, J.W.; Liu, F.; Zhang, X.B.; Yuan, Z.Y. Promotional effect of CeOx for NO reduction over V2O5/TiO2-carbon nanotube composites. J. Mol. Catal. A 2012, 356, 121–127. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  23. Ma, Z.X.; Yang, H.S.; Li, B.; Liu, F.; Zhang, X.B. Temperature-Dependent Effects of SO2 on Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO over Fe-Cu-Ox/CNTs-TiO2 Catalysts. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2013, 52, 3708–3713. [Google Scholar]
  24. Pan, S.W.; Luo, H.C.; Li, L.; Wei, Z.; Huang, B.C. H2O and SO2 deactivation mechanism of MnOx/MWCNTs for low-temperature SCR of NOx with NH3. J. Mol. Catal. A 2013, 377, 154–161. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  25. Zhang, D.S.; Zhang, L.; Shi, L.Y.; Fang, C.; Li, H.R.; Gao, R.H.; Huang, L.; Zhang, J.P. In situ supported MnOx-CeOx on carbon nanotubes for the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3. Nanoscale 2013, 5, 1127–1136. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  26. Zhang, L.; Wang, D.; Liu, Y.; Kamasamudram, K.; Li, J.H.; Epling, W. SO2 poisoning impact on the NH3-SCR reaction over a commercial Cu-SAPO-34 SCR catalyst. Appl. Catal. B 2014, 156–157, 371–377. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  27. Busca, G.; Lietti, L.; Ramis, G.; Berti, F. Chemical and mechanistic aspects of the selective catalytic reduction of NOx by ammonia over oxide catalysts: A review. Appl. Catal. B 1998, 18, 1–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  28. Thirupathi, B.; Smirniotis, P.G. Co-doping a metal (Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ce, and Zr) on Mn/TiO2 catalyst and its effect on the selective reduction of NO with NH3 at low-temperatures. Appl. Catal. B 2011, 110, 195–206. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  29. Dai, C.W. The thermal decomposition temperature of Sulphate of atomic steady potential scale. Chin. J. Chem. Rev. 1986, 11, 37–40. [Google Scholar]
  30. Ettireddy, P.R.; Ettireddy, N.; Mamedov, S.; Boolchand, P.; Smirniotis, G.P. Surface characterization studies of TiO2 supported manganese oxide catalysts for low temperature SCR of NO with NH3. Appl. Catal. B 2007, 76, 123–134. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  31. Li, L.; Wang, L.S.; Pan, S.W.; Wei, Z.L.; Huang, B.C. Effects of cerium on the selective catalytic reduction activity and structural properties of manganese oxides supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes catalysts. Chin. J. Catal. 2013, 34, 1087–1097. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  32. Koc, S.N.; Gurdag, G.; Geissler, S.; Muhler, M. Effect of nickel, lanthanum, and yttrium addition to magnesium molybdate catalyst on the catalytic activity for oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2004, 43, 2376–2381. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  33. Zhang, D.S.; Zhang, L.; Fang, C.; Gao, R.H.; Qian, Y.L.; Shi, L.Y.; Zhang, J.P. MnOx-CeOx/CNTs pyridine-thermally prepared via a novel in situ deposition strategy for selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3. RSC Adv. 2013, 3, 8811–8819. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  34. Luo, H.C.; Huang, B.C.; Fu, M.L.; Wu, J.L.; Ye, D.Q. SO2 Deactivation Mechanism of MnOx /MWCNTs Catalyst for Low-Temperature Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx by Ammonia. Acta Phys. Chim. Sin. 2012, 28, 2175–2182. [Google Scholar]
  35. Chang, H.Z.; Chen, X.Y.; Li, J.H.; Ma, L.; Wang, C.Z.; Liu, C.X.; Schwank, J.W.; Hao, J.M. Improvement of Activity and SO2 Tolerance of Sn-Modified MnOx-CeO2 Catalysts for NH3-SCR at Low Temperatures. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 5294–5301. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  36. Guan, B.; Lin, H.; Zhu, L.; Huang, Z. Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx with NH3 over Mn, Ce Substitution Ti0.9V0.1O2-δ Nanocomposites Catalysts Prepared by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis Method. J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 12850–12863. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  37. Jin, R.; Liu, Y.; Wu, Z.; Wang, H.; Gu, T. Low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 over Mn Ce oxides supported on TiO2 and Al2O3: A comparative study. Chemosphere 2010, 78, 1160–1166. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  38. Dupin, J.C.; Gonbeau, D.; Vinatier, P.; Levasseur, A. Systematic XPS studies of metal oxides, hydroxides and peroxides. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2000, 2, 1319–1324. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  39. Majumder, M.; Chopra, N.; Hinds, B.J. Effect of tip functionalization on transport through vertically oriented carbon nanotube membranes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 9062–9070. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  40. Liu, Y.Q.; Gao, L. A study of the electrical properties of carbon nanotube-NiFe2O4 composites: Effect of the surface treatment of the carbon nanotubes. Carbon 2005, 43, 47–52. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  41. Yu, C.L.; Wang, L.S.; Huang, B.C. In situ DRIFTS study of the low temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 over MnOx supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes catalysts. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 2015, 15, 1017–1027. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  42. Yang, D.Q.; Rochette, J.F.; Sacher, E. Spectroscopic evidence for π-π interaction between poly(diallyl dimethylammonium) chloride and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 4481–4484. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  43. Liu, Y.; Jiang, W.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, X.J.; Song, D.; Li, F.S. Synthesis of Fe3O4/CNTs magnetic nanocomposites at the liquid-liquid interface using oleate as surfactant and reactant. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 2009, 321, 408–412. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  44. Shi, D.; Cheng, J.P.; Liu, F.; Zhang, X.B. Controlling the size and size distribution of magnetite nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes. J. Alloys Comp. 2010, 502, 365–370. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  45. Shen, B.X.; Zhang, X.P.; Ma, H.Q.; Yao, Y.; Liu, T. A comparative study of Mn/CeO2, Mn/ZrO2 and Mn/Ce-ZrO2 for low temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 in the presence of SO2 and H2O. J. Environ. Sci. 2013, 25, 791–800. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  46. Jin, R.B.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Cen, W.L.; Wu, Z.B.; Wang, H.Q.; Weng, X.L. The role of cerium in the improved SO2 tolerance for NO reduction with NH3 over Mn-Ce/TiO2 catalyst at low temperature. Appl. Catal. B 2014, 148–149, 582–588. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  47. Yang, C.; Liu, X.Q.; Huang, B.C.; Wu, Y.M. Structural properties and low-temperature SCR activity of zirconium-modified MnOx/MWCNTs catalysts. Acta Phys. Chim. Sin. 2014, 30, 1895–1902. [Google Scholar]
Catalysts 07 00181 g001 550
Figure 1. NOx conversion of Ce-, Y-doped MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs catalysts as a function of temperature reaction condition: 0.06% NO; 0.06% NH3; 3% O2; Ar balance, gas hour space velocity (GHSV) = 40,000 h−1.
Figure 1. NOx conversion of Ce-, Y-doped MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs catalysts as a function of temperature reaction condition: 0.06% NO; 0.06% NH3; 3% O2; Ar balance, gas hour space velocity (GHSV) = 40,000 h−1.
Catalysts 07 00181 g001
Catalysts 07 00181 g002 550
Figure 2. Effect with/without SO2 or H2O on the SCR activity of catalyst reaction conditions: 0.1% NO; 0.1% NH3; 5% O2; 10% H2O (when added); 0.01% SO2 (when added); and 200 °C, Ar balance.
Figure 2. Effect with/without SO2 or H2O on the SCR activity of catalyst reaction conditions: 0.1% NO; 0.1% NH3; 5% O2; 10% H2O (when added); 0.01% SO2 (when added); and 200 °C, Ar balance.
Catalysts 07 00181 g002
Catalysts 07 00181 g003 550
Figure 3. XRD patterns of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2.
Figure 3. XRD patterns of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2.
Catalysts 07 00181 g003
Catalysts 07 00181 g004 550
Figure 4. H2-TPR profiles of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2.
Figure 4. H2-TPR profiles of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2.
Catalysts 07 00181 g004
Catalysts 07 00181 g005 550
Figure 5. O 1s XPS spectra of catalysts before and after doping of Ce and Y.
Figure 5. O 1s XPS spectra of catalysts before and after doping of Ce and Y.
Catalysts 07 00181 g005
Catalysts 07 00181 g006 550
Figure 6. Mn 2p X spectra of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2. (a) Fresh MnZr; (b) used MnZr; (c) fresh MnCeZr; (d) used MnCeZr; (e) fresh MnYZr; (f) used MnYZr.
Figure 6. Mn 2p X spectra of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2. (a) Fresh MnZr; (b) used MnZr; (c) fresh MnCeZr; (d) used MnCeZr; (e) fresh MnYZr; (f) used MnYZr.
Catalysts 07 00181 g006
Catalysts 07 00181 g007 550
Figure 7. O 1s XPS spectra of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2. (A) MnZr; (B) MnCeZr; and (C) MnYZr. M: Surface metal or sulfur.
Figure 7. O 1s XPS spectra of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2. (A) MnZr; (B) MnCeZr; and (C) MnYZr. M: Surface metal or sulfur.
Catalysts 07 00181 g007
Catalysts 07 00181 g008 550
Figure 8. FTIR spectra of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2. (a) Fresh-MnZr; (b) used-MnZr; (c) fresh-MnCeZr; (d) used-MnCeZr; (e) fresh-MnYZr; and (f) used-MnYZr.
Figure 8. FTIR spectra of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2. (a) Fresh-MnZr; (b) used-MnZr; (c) fresh-MnCeZr; (d) used-MnCeZr; (e) fresh-MnYZr; and (f) used-MnYZr.
Catalysts 07 00181 g008
Table
Table 1. Surface atomic concentration of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2.
Table 1. Surface atomic concentration of catalysts before and after the reaction in the presence of SO2.
CatalystSurface Atomic Concentration (%)
COMnZrCeYSN
Fresh MnZr88.258.141.62.01----
Fresh MnCeZr86.989.221.321.720.76---
Fresh MnYZr89.917.230.751.89-0.22--
Used MnZr88.827.541.381.61--0.140.51
Used MnCeZr88.667.781.091.560.52-0.15-
Used MnYZr88.537.710.711.66-0.180.141.07
Table
Table 2. Proportions of different O species obtained by the peak fitting of the O 1s curves.
Table 2. Proportions of different O species obtained by the peak fitting of the O 1s curves.
CatalystO 1s 1O 1s 2O 1s 3O 1s 4
MnZr0.620.210.17-
MnZr-SO20.430.260.180.13
MnCeZr0.150.320.240.29
MnCeZr-SO20.290.200.280.23
MnYZr0.330.360.30-
MnYZr-SO20.270.190.260.28

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Dong, L.; Fan, Y.; Ling, W.; Yang, C.; Huang, B. Effect of Ce/Y Addition on Low-Temperature SCR Activity and SO2 and H2O Resistance of MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs Catalysts. Catalysts 2017, 7, 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7060181

AMA Style

Dong L, Fan Y, Ling W, Yang C, Huang B. Effect of Ce/Y Addition on Low-Temperature SCR Activity and SO2 and H2O Resistance of MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs Catalysts. Catalysts. 2017; 7(6):181. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7060181

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dong, Lifu, Yinming Fan, Wei Ling, Chao Yang, and Bichun Huang. 2017. "Effect of Ce/Y Addition on Low-Temperature SCR Activity and SO2 and H2O Resistance of MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs Catalysts" Catalysts 7, no. 6: 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7060181

APA Style

Dong, L., Fan, Y., Ling, W., Yang, C., & Huang, B. (2017). Effect of Ce/Y Addition on Low-Temperature SCR Activity and SO2 and H2O Resistance of MnOx/ZrO2/MWCNTs Catalysts. Catalysts, 7(6), 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7060181

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop