In
this contribution, we synthesized three model Cu-SSZ-13 catalysts with
primarily ZCuOH, Z2Cu, and extraframework Cu
x
O
y
species and then measured
their N2O formation rates during standard selective catalytic
reduction (SCR). We first present evidence that the formation of extraframework
Cu
x
O
y
species
after sequential aqueous ion exchange and calcination correlates with
the formation of Cu(OH)2 precipitates during ion exchange.
These Cu
x
O
y
species are not active for standard SCR, and unchanged apparent
activation energies and reaction orders demonstrate that these Cu
x
O
y
species do not
induce transport limitations to accessible Cu2+ active
centers. During standard SCR, N2O formation rates on a
per Cu basis were the fastest (and exhibited higher selectivities)
on ZCuOH, followed by Z2Cu and then extraframework Cu
x
O
y
. Because N2O formation apparent activation energies were indistinguishable
from the standard SCR apparent activation energies associated with
the reduction-limited step, we posit that N2O is formed
during the standard SCR reduction step. Additionally, using sulfur
poisons to force the ZCuOH rate-limiting step to the oxidation half-cycle
resulted in an unchanged N2O formation apparent activation
energy, further supporting our hypothesis. These results suggest that
utilizing Cu-SSZ-13 catalysts with higher fractions of Z2Cu active centers in commercial aftertreatment systems can lead to
reduced N2O emissions.