Cu-OFF/ERI Zeolite: Intergrowth Structure Synergistically Boosting Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx with NH3

Cu-SSZ-13 has been commercialized for selective catalytic reduction with ammonia (NH₃-SCR) to remove NO_x from diesel exhaust. As its synthesis usually requires toxic and costly organic templates, the discovery of alternative Cu-based zeolite catalysts with organotemplate-free synthesis and comparable or even superior NH₃-SCR activity to that of Cu-SSZ-13 is of great academic and industrial significance. Herein, we demonstrated that Cu-T with an intergrowth structure of offretite (OFF) and erionite (ERI) synthesized by an organotemplate-free method showed better catalytic performance than Cu-ERI and Cu-OFF as well as Cu-SSZ-13. Structure characterizations and density functional theory calculations indicated that the intergrowth structure promoted more isolated Cu²⁺ located at the 6MR of the intergrowth interface, resulting in a better hydrothermal stability of Cu-T than Cu-ERI and Cu-OFF. Strikingly, the low-temperature activity of Cu-T significantly increased after hydrothermal aging, while that of Cu-ERI and Cu-OFF substantially decreased. Based on in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectra analysis and density functional theory calculations, the reason can be attributed to the fact that NH₄NO₃ formed on the Cu_xO_y species within ERI polymorph of Cu-T underwent a fast SCR reaction pathway with the assistance of Brønsted acid sites at the intergrowth interfaces under standard SCR reaction conditions. Significantly, Cu-T exhibited a wider temperature window at a catalytic activity of over 90% than Cu-SSZ-13 (175-550 vs 175-500 °C for fresh and 225-500 vs 250-400 °C for hydrothermal treatment). This work provides a new direction for the design of high-performance NH₃-SCR catalysts in terms of the interplay of the intergrowth structure of zeolites.