Interface Engineering of a Bifunctional Cu-SSZ-13@CZO Core–Shell Catalyst for Boosting Potassium Ion and SO2 Tolerance

The poisoning of sulfur oxides and alkali metals emitted from diesel exhaust to active sites of copper ion-exchanged chabazite (Cu-CHA) catalysts is still present and remains a formidable challenge in practical application. Herein, a bifunctional core–shell structural Cu-SSZ-13@Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 (Cu-SSZ-13@CZO) catalyst was designed and fabricated via a hydrothermally induced self-assembly protocol, and the catalytic activity of Cu-SSZ-13@CZO for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NOx) with ammonia was systematically investigated. It unveils that Cu-SSZ-13@CZO features Cu-SSZ-13 as the core and dispersed CZO as the shell and that the CZO shell could not only serve as a sacrificial site protecting the Cu-SSZ-13 active core from SO2 poisoning by the formation of Ce2(SO4)3, which could further act as adsorption sites capturing the K+ through the strong interaction between K+ and cerium sulfate, but also render additional Brønsted acid sites functioning as sacrificial sites to trap K+, thereafter inhibiting the adsorption of K+ directly on active Cu species in the Cu-SSZ-13 core. As a result, the as-constructed Cu-SSZ-13@CZO catalyst, therefore, exhibits perceptibly enhanced coresistance to sulfur and potassium ion poisoning with almost 100% NOx conversion in the temperature window of 275–475 °C as compared to 350–450 °C on pristine Cu-SSZ-13. The finding here may contribute to the fundamental understanding of the coresistance to sulfur oxides and alkali metal poison and thereafter inspire the advancement of a highly efficient NH3-SCR catalyst in the future.