Functionalization of SSZ-13 and Fe-Beta with copper by NH3 and NO facilitated solid-state ion-exchange

Journal article, 2017

We show that functionalization of SSZ-13 (CHA) and Fe-beta (*BEA) with copper using a recently reported solid-state ion-exchange method, facilitated by NH3 and nitrogen oxides (NO), is a viable route to prepare Cu-SSZ-13 and (Cu + Fe)-beta catalysts, starting from H-SSZ-13 and Fe-beta, respectively. The physicochemical properties of the prepared catalysts are characterized by XRD, UV-Vis-spectroscopy and STEM-EDS, confirming that copper originally present in the physical mixture of CuO and H-SSZ-13, and CuO and Fe-beta, is inserted into the micropores of SSZ-13 and Fe-beta, respectively. Activity measurements in gas-flow reactor show that the samples are active for NO reduction by NH3-SCR over a broad temperature range, i.e., 150–500 C. For the Cu-SSZ-13 catalysts, which have a copper loading range of 0.5–4 wt. %, the sample prepared from the physical mixture with a CuO/SSZ-13 ratio corresponding to 2 wt.% Cu is the most active catalyst for NH3-SCR under the present reaction conditions. Furthermore, the (Cu + Fe)-beta catalyst shows higher NH3-SCR activity over a broader temperature range and especially at low temperature as compared to the Fe-beta and Cu-beta counterparts. The results encourage further elaboration on sequential ion-exchange procedures for bimetallic functionalization of zeolites.