Tuning the Interaction between Platinum Single Atoms and Ceria by Zirconia Doping for Efficient Catalytic Ammonia Oxidation

Aiming at the development of an efficient NH3 oxidation catalyst to eliminate the harmful NH3 slip from the stationary flue gas denitrification system and diesel exhaust aftertreatment system, a facile ZrO2 doping strategy was proposed to construct Pt-1/CexZr1-xO2 catalysts with a tunable Pt-CeO2 interaction strength and Pt-O-Ce coordination environment. According to the results of systematic characterizations, Pt species supported on CexZr1-xO2 were mainly in the form of single atoms when x >= 0.7, and the strength of the Pt-CeO2 interaction and the coordination number of Pt-O-Ce bond (CNPt-O-Ce) on Pt-1/CexZr1-xO2 showed a volcanic change as a function of the ZrO2 doping amount. It was proposed that the balance between the reasonable concentration of oxygen defects and limited surface Zr-O-x species well accounted for the strongest Pt-CeO2 interaction and the highest CNPt-O-Ce on Pt/Ce0.9Zr0.1O2. It was observed that the Pt/Ce0.9Zr0.1O2 catalyst exhibited much higher NH3 oxidation activity than other Pt/CexZr1-xO2 catalysts. The mechanism study revealed that the Pt-1 species with the stronger Pt-CeO2 interaction and higher CNPt-O-Ce within Pt/Ce0.9Zr0.1O2 could better activate NH3 adsorbed on Lewis acid sites to react with O-2 thus resulting in superior NH3 oxidation activity. This work provides a new approach for designing highly efficient Pt/CeO2 based catalysts for low-temperature NH3 oxidation.

Automated summary

This study proposes a facile ZrO2 doping strategy to construct Pt-1/CexZr1-xO2 catalysts for eliminating harmful NH3 slip from stationary flue gas denitrification and diesel exhaust aftertreatment systems. The study finds that Pt/Ce0.9Zr0.1O2 catalyst exhibits the strongest Pt-CeO2 interaction and highest Pt-O-Ce coordination number, resulting in superior NH3 oxidation activity.