Synergistic Catalytic Removal of NO and -Butylamine via Spatially Separated Cooperative Sites.

Synergistic control of nitrogen oxides (NO) and nitrogen-containing volatile organic compounds (NVOCs) from industrial furnaces is necessary. Generally, the elimination of -butylamine (-B), a typical pollutant of NVOCs, requires a catalyst with sufficient redox ability. This process induces the production of nitrogen-containing byproducts (NO, NO, NO), leading to lower N selectivity of NH selective catalytic reduction of NO (NH-SCR). Here, synergistic catalytic removal of NO and -B via spatially separated cooperative sites was originally demonstrated. Specifically, titania nanotubes supported CuO-CeO (CuCe-TiO NTs) catalysts with spatially separated cooperative sites were creatively developed, which showed a broader active temperature window from 180 to 340 °C, with over 90% NO conversion, 85% -B conversion, and 90% N selectivity. A synergistic effect of the Cu and Ce sites was found. The catalytic oxidation of -B mainly occurred at the Cu sites inside the tube, which ensured the regular occurrence of the NH-SCR reaction on the outer Ce sites under the matching temperature window. In addition, the -B oxidation would produce abundant intermediate NH*, which could act as an extra reductant to promote NH-SCR. Meanwhile, NH-SCR could simultaneously remove the possible NO byproducts of -B decomposition. This novel strategy of constructing cooperative sites provides a distinct pathway for promoting the synergistic removal of -B and NO.