EFFECT OF CRYSTAL MORPHOLOGY IN SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION OF NITRIC-OXIDE OVER V2O5 CATALYSTS

Structural specificity of vanadium pentoxide catalysts was investigated in the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitric oxide. Catalysts were prepared by different temperature-programmed methods to obtain particles having preferential exposure of different crystal planes. Catalyst samples were characterized using the BET surface area technique, X-ray diffraction, laser Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and 3-D imaging techniques. A steady-state fixed-bed reactor system was used for activity and selectivity measurements. Identification and quantification of reaction effluents were achieved using an analytical scheme that combined gas chromatography, chemiluminescence, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy and wet chemistry techniques. Samples that preferentially exposed the (010) basal planes were found to promote direct oxidation of ammonia more readily than nitric oxide reduction as evidenced by the differences in nitric oxide and ammonia conversions and in nitrogen and nitrous oxide yields. The difference in catalytic activity and selectivity was related to the relative abundance of V = 0 sites exposed on the catalyst surface and the competing reactions that are involved in SCR and direct ammonia oxidation reaction schemes.