Computational design and experimental validation of monometallic-doped SnO2 catalysts for selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia

Due to the intricate structure of catalysts, traditional catalyst design relies on iterative trial-and-error experiments. We have systematically established a catalyst design strategy to evaluate the performance of NH3-SCO reactions from the perspective of DFT calculations. Specifically, we used the catalyst formation energy as a stability descriptor and the adsorption energies of NH3, NH2, and O p-band center as performance descriptors, we identified the four most promising catalysts among 45 kinds of doped SnO2 catalysts. Subsequently, experimental validation was performed to demonstrate the outstanding consistency between the DFT-driven descriptors and the stability and catalytic performance of the catalyst. Particularly, the Ce doping resulted in a 175 °C reduction in the T90 compared to the SnO2 catalyst. It is noteworthy that Ce doping promotes the cycling between oxygen vacancies and lattice oxygen, which contributes primarily to the enhancement of O2 activation capability and, consequently, the improvement in catalytic activity.