NO reduction over nanostructure M-Cu/ZSM-5 (M: Cr, Mn, Co and Fe) bimetallic catalysts and optimization of catalyst preparation by RSM

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3 in the presence of oxygen over a series of H-ZSM-5 supported transition metal oxides (Co, Mn, Cr, Cu and Fe) was investigated. Among them, Cu/ZSM-5 nanocatalyst was found to be the most promising catalyst based on activity. The modification of Cu/ZSM-5 by adding different transition metals (Co, Mn, Cr and Fe) to improve the efficiency of NO conversion was studied. The results indicated that the Fe–Cu/ZSM-5 bimetallic nanocatalyst was the highest active catalyst for NO conversion (67% at 250 °C and 93% at 300 °C). Response surface methodology (RSM) involving central composite design (CCD) was employed to evaluate and optimize Fe–Cu/ZSM-5 preparation parameters (Fe loading, calcinations temperature, and impregnation temperature) in SCR of NO at 250 °C. The optimum condition for maximum NO conversion was estimated at 4.2 wt.% Fe loading, calcinations temperature of 577 °C and impregnation temperature of 43.5 °C. Under these condition, experimental NO conversion efficiency was 78.8%, which was close with the predicted value (79.4%).