In-situ DRIFTS measurements for the mechanistic study of NO oxidation over a commercial Cu-CHA catalyst
We report a mechanistic DRIFTS in-situ study of NO 2 , NO + O 2 and NO adsorption on a commercial Cu-CHA catalyst for NH 3 -SCR of NO x . Both pre-reduced and pre-oxidized catalyst samples were investigated with the aim of clarifying mechanistic aspects of the NO oxidation to NO 2 as a preliminary step towards the study of the Standard SCR reaction mechanism at low temperatures. Nitrosonium cations (NO + , N formal oxidation state = +3) were identified as key surface intermediates in the process of NO (+2) oxidation to NO 2 (+4) and nitrates (+5). While NO + and nitrates were formed simultaneously upon catalyst exposure to NO 2 , nitrates evolved consecutively to NO + when the catalyst was exposed to NO + O 2 , suggesting that nitrite-like species, and not NO 2 , are formed as the primary products of the NO oxidative activation over Cu-CHA. Upon catalyst exposure to NO only, i.e. in the absence of gaseous O 2 , NO + and then nitrates were formed on a pre-oxidized sample but not on a pre-reduced one, which demonstrates the red-ox nature of the NO oxidation mechanism. The negative effect of H 2 O on NO + and nitrates formation was also clearly established. Assuming Cu dimers as the active sites for NO oxidation to NO 2 , we propose a mechanism which reconciles all the experimental observations. Specifically, we show that such a mechanism also explains the observed kinetic effects of H 2 O, O 2 and NO 2 on the NO oxidation activity of the investigated Cu zeolite catalyst.