The Deactivation Mechanism of the Mo-Ce/Zr-PILC Catalyst Induced by Pb for the Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO with NH3

Abstract

As a heavy metal, Pb is one component in coal-fired flue gas and is widely considered to have a strong negative effect on catalyst activity in the selective catalytic reduction of NOx by NH3 (NH3-SCR). In this paper, we investigated the deactivation mechanism of the Mo-Ce/Zr-PILC catalyst induced by Pb in detail. We found that NO conversion over the 3Mo4Ce/Zr-PILC catalyst decreased greatly after the addition of Pb. The more severe deactivation induced by Pb was attributed to low surface area, lower amounts of chemisorbed oxygen species and surface Ce3+, and lower redox ability and surface acidity (especially a low number of Brønsted acid sites). Furthermore, the addition of Pb inhibited the formation of highly active intermediate nitrate species generated on the surface of the catalyst, hence decreasing the NH3-SCR activity.