Fully Copper-Exchanged High-Silica LTA Zeolites as Unrivaled Hydrothermally Stable NH3 -SCR Catalysts

Abstract

Diesel engine technology is still the most effective solution to meet tighter CO₂ regulations in the mobility and transport sector. In implementation of fuel-efficient diesel engines, the poor thermal durability of lean nitrogen oxides (NO_x ) aftertreatment systems remains as one major technical hurdle. Divalent copper ions when fully exchanged into high-silica LTA zeolites are demonstrated to exhibit excellent activity maintenance for NO_x reduction with NH₃ under vehicle simulated conditions even after hydrothermal aging at 900 °C, a critical temperature that the current commercial Cu-SSZ-13 catalyst cannot overcome owing to thermal deactivation. Detailed structural characterizations confirm the presence of Cu²⁺ ions only at the center of single 6-rings that act not only as a catalytically active center, but also as a dealumination suppressor. The overall results render the copper-exchanged LTA zeolite attractive as a viable substitute for Cu-SSZ-13.

Keywords: Cu-LTA; heterogeneous catalysis; hydrothermal stability; selective catalytic reduction; zeolites.