Mechanochemical Design of Low-Pt Zeolite Catalysts with Coupled SCO-SCR Pathways for Efficient Ammonia Emission Abatement

Ammonia (NH 3 ) slip from transportation and industrial sources contributes to secondary fine particulate matter formation and indirect greenhouse effects, posing growing environmental challenges. The selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) of NH 3 to N 2 offers an effective abatement route, yet conventional Pt-based catalysts suffer from high noble-metal demand and poor N 2 selectivity. Here, we report a bifunctional Pt 0.08 –Cu/AEI zeolite catalyst synthesized through a mechanochemical ball-milling strategy, which integrates Pt oxidation and Cu reduction functionalities within a single zeolitic framework. Structural analyses reveal that metallic Pt nanoparticles are located on the external surface, while atomically dispersed Cu 2+ and CuO x clusters reside within the micropores, enabling intimate Pt–Cu interfacial coupling. Operando DRIFTS-MS results uncover a coupled SCO-SCR mechanism, where NO generated-on Pt sites reacts with adsorbed NH 3 on adjacent Cu Lewis acid sites to selectively produce N 2, effectively suppressing NO x and N 2 O formation. Benefiting from this dual-site synergy, the Pt–Cu/AEI-BM1 catalyst with low-Pt content (0.08 wt %) achieves 90% NH 3 conversion and >90% N 2 selectivity at 200 °C under humid, high-space-velocity conditions. This study demonstrates a scalable and sustainable strategy for designing ultralow-Pt, high-selectivity catalysts for practical ammonia emission control.