Manganese oxide nanorod catalysts for low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3

Abstract

MnO_x nanorod catalysts were successfully synthesized by two different preparation methods using porous SiO₂ nanorods as the template and investigated for the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH₃. The catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and NH₃ temperature-programmed desorption. The results show that the obtained MnO_x-P nanorod catalyst prepared by redox precipitation method exhibits higher NO removal activity than that prepared by the solvent evaporation method in the low temperature range of 100–180 °C, where about 98% NO conversion is achieved over MnO_x(0.36)-P nanorods. The reason is mainly attributed to MnO_x(0.36)-P nanorods possessing unique flower-like morphology and mesoporous structures with high pore volume, which facilitates the exposure of more active sites of MnO_x and the adsorption of reactant gas molecules. Furthermore, there is a lower crystallinity of MnO_x, higher percentage of Mn⁴⁺ species and a large amount of strong acid sites on the surface. These factors contribute to the excellent low-temperature SCR activity of MnO_x(0.36)-P nanorods.