Promoting Effect of Mn on In Situ Synthesized Cu-SSZ-13 for NH3-SCR

The effect of Mn impregnation on the NH3-SCR (selective catalytic reduction of NOx by NH3) activity of in situ synthesized Cu-SSZ-13 was investigated in this work. It was found that Mn addition could efficiently improve the low-temperature activity of Cu-SSZ-13. The optimal amount of Mn was 5 wt.%, and NOx conversion was improved by more than 20% over a temperature range of 120 degrees C to 150 degrees C. SEM (scanning electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), N-2 adsorption-desorption, H-2-TPR (temperature programmed reduction of H-2), NH3-TPD (temperature programmed desorption of NH3) and in situ DRIFTS (diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy) experiments were conducted to investigate the changes in the zeolite structure, active sites, acid sites and reaction mechanism. The impregnated MnOx species caused a decline in the crystallinity of Cu-SSZ-13 but markedly improved the redox ability. Nitrate and nitrite species were observed in the Mn-modified Cu-SSZ-13, and the formation of these species was thought to cause the observed increase in low-temperature NH3-SCR activity. The results show that the addition of Mn is a promising method for promoting the low-temperature catalytic activity of Cu-SSZ-13.