The adsorption of NO, NH 3 , H 2 O, and SO 2 gaseous molecules on different transition metal oxides was studied based on density function theory (DFT), and three better-performing transition metal elements (Fe, Co, and Ce) were selected. Cu-Mn/SAPO-34 catalysts were prepared by impregnation method and then modified by the selected transition metals (Fe, Co, and Ce); the SO 2 resistance experiments and characterizations including Brunner−Emmet−Teller (BET), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), and thermal gravity analysis (TG)-differential thermal gravity (DTG) before and after SO 2 poisoning were conducted. The results showed that the deactivation of the Cu-Mn/SAPO-34 catalyst is ascribed to the deposition of lots of ammonium sulfates on the surface, depositing on the active sites and inhibiting the adsorption of NH 3 . After the modification of Fe, Co, and Ce oxides, the SO 2 resistance of the modified Cu-Mn/SAPO-34 catalyst was significantly enhanced due to the less formation of ammonium sulfates. Among all these modified Cu-Mn/SAPO-34 catalysts, the Cu-Mn-Ce/SAPO-34 exhibited the highest SO 2 resistance owing to the decreased decomposition temperature and the trapper of ceria for capturing SO 2 to form Ce(SO 4 ) 2 , further inhibiting the deposition of ammonium sulfates.Catalysts 2019, 9, 685 2 of 15 be an important oxide component in the SCR reaction, due to the various types of labile oxygen and high oxygen-storage capacity [9]. CuO is found to be highly resistant to SO 2 in the low-temperature SCR reaction due to the activity of CuSO 4 [10]. It is reported that the Mn-Cu/SAPO-34 catalyst displays remarkable hydrothermal stability and good SCR activity in a broad temperature range [11][12][13].It is well accepted that the application of low-temperature SCR catalyst relies not only on the high SCR activity, but also the superior SO 2 resistance due to the fact that the exhaust from the industrial boiler system contains a good amount of SO 2 . However, Mn-based catalysts are proven to be sensitive to SO 2 poisoning. Two main deactivation routes are widely reported. Firstly, SO 2 can be oxidized to SO 3 , which can react with NH 3 and H 2 O to form (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and NH 4 HSO 4 ; the former dries powdery, which decomposes at 280 • C [14], but the latter is a kind of corrosive and sticky substance, which decomposes at 390 • C [15], Secondly, MnO x or CuO may react with SO 2 to form stable sulfate species, which can cut off the redox cycle of the catalyst [16] and hinder the adsorption and activation of NO on the surface of the catalyst [17]. As such, the development of Mn-based catalysts with superior SO 2 resistance has attracted wide concern by many researchers.The main method to improve SO 2 resistance is adding other modification metals/non-metals to SCR catalyst. Chang et al. [18] reported that the NO conversion over the SnO x -MnO 2 -CeO 2 catalyst exhibited 60% approximately in the presence of SO 2 and H 2 O, which is much higher than that over MnO 2 -CeO 2 . The promotion effect...