Metal organic frameworks-assisted fabrication of CuO/CuO for enhanced selective catalytic reduction of NO by NH at low temperatures.

Porous CuO/CuO heterostructure was successfully synthesized through a metal organic frameworks (MOFs)-assisted template method. Tunable production of pure phase CuO and CuO could be achieved by regulating the coordination environment of copper. The copper oxides inherited the polyhedral morphology from the Cu MOFs and possessed higher surface area and larger pore volume. Compared with pure CuO and CuO, heterostructured CuO/CuO displayed remarkably enhanced NH-SCR de-NO activity and N selectivity in a low temperature range of 170-220 °C. Systematical in situ DRIFT characterization revealed that the NH-SCR of NO over CuO/CuO heterostructure followed Eley-Rideal (E-R) mechanism, which was greatly improved by the abundant Lewis acid sites, improved O adsorption and the synergistic effect between Cu and Cu. In addition, CuO/CuO heterostructure exhibited excellent HO, SO, alkali metals, and hydrocarbon durability, indicating its potential use in industrial NH-SCR of NO.