Two steps synthesis of CeTiOx oxides nanotube catalyst: Enhanced activity, resistance of SO2 and H2O for low temperature NH3-SCR of NOx

Cerium and titanium oxides are considered as promising alternative catalysts for selective catalytic reduction with NH3 (NH3-SCR) to remove NOx. However, the poor SO2 or H2O tolerance and stability limit their practical applications. Herein, CeTiOx with nanotube structure (CeTiOx-T) was prepared by hydrothermal method and used for NH3-SCR reaction. CeTiOx-T shows the excellent catalytic activity, SO2 and H2O tolerance and stability, in which more than 98 % NO conversion can be achieved in the range of 180−390 °C with 100 % N2 selectivity. The characterizations verify that CeTiOx-T exhibits amorphous structure due to the strong interaction between Ce and Ti to form short-range ordered Ce-O-Ti species. As results, CeTiOx-T displays the larger BET surface area, more surface Brønsted acid amounts and chemisorbed oxygen, leading to its higher NH3-SCR performance. In situ DRIFTS results suggest the SCR reaction mainly follow L-H and E-R mechanisms at low and high temperature for over CeTiOx-T, respectively.