Redistributing Cu species in Cu-SSZ-13 zeolite as NH3-SCR catalyst via a simple ion-exchange

The nature and distribution of Cu species in Cu-SSZ-13 play a vital role in selective catalytic reduction of NO by NH3(NH3-SCR),but existing methods for adjusting the Cu distribution are complex and difficult to control.Herein,we report a simple and effective ion-exchange approach to regulate the Cu distribution in the one-pot synthesized Cu-SSZ-13 that possesses sufficient initial Cu species and thus provides a“natural environment”for adjusting Cu distribution precisely.By using this proposed strategy,a series of Cu-SSZ-13x zeolites with different Cu contents and distributions were obtained.It is shown that the dealumination of the as-synthesized Cu-SSZ-13 during the ion-exchange generates abundant vacant sites in the double six-membered-rings of the SSZ-13 zeolite for relocating Cu2+species and thus allows the redistribution of the Cu species.The catalytic results showed that the ion-exchanged Cu-SSZ-13 zeolites exhibit quite different catalytic performance in NH3-SCR reaction but superior to the parent counterpart.The structure–activity relationship analysis indicates that the redistribution of Cu species rather than other factors(e.g.,crystallinity,chemical composition,and porous structure)is responsible for the improved NH3-SCR performance and SO_(2) and H_(2)O resistance.Our work offers an effective method to precisely adjust the Cu distribution in preparing the industrial SCR catalysts.