Design and Synthesis of Cu/ZSM-5 Catalyst via a Facile One-Pot Dual-Template Strategy with Controllable Cu Content for Removal of NOx

Cu-containing zeolites are often synthesized by two methods: ion exchange or one-pot synthesis. The former contains zeolite synthesis and ion exchange in two steps. For the latter method, the synthesis of Cu based zeolites is more convenient. However, the Cu content is very difficult to control. In this work, we developed a facile one pot dual-template strategy to design and synthesize Cu-ZSM-5-D catalysts in order to achieve better ammonia selective catalytic reduction (NH3-SCR) performance, compared with Cu/ZSM-5 synthesized via a traditional ion exchange method. Furthermore, the directly synthesized Cu-ZSM-5-D performs with better hydrothermal stability and sulfur resistance. The Si/Al atomic ratio, most importantly, the Cu content can be conveniently controlled by changing the addition of Cu precursors. The reaction mechanism was also revealed through the in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) technique in detail. The one-pot dual-template method adopted in this work may be applied for other high-performance Cu based zeolites for removal of nitrogen oxides.