Ceria supported on sulfated zirconia as a superacid catalyst for selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3.

In this paper, ceria supported on sulfated zirconia (CeSZ) as a superacid catalyst was synthesized and the resulted performances for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH(3) were investigated. Experimental results revealed that the sulfation of zirconia supports could greatly improve the SCR activity of the catalysts. Among the tested samples, the CeSZ catalyst with Ce/Zr mole ratio at 0.095 possessed the highest NO conversion (i.e., 98.6% at ca. 420 °C and 180,000 h(-1)). The sulfation had led to a formation of pure tetragonal phase of ZrO(2), a well dispersion of CeO(2), abundant stable superacid sites, increasing surface area and enrichment of Ce(3+) on the surface, all of which were responsible for its excellent performance in SCR of NO with NH(3).