The conventional Mn-based catalysts suffer from lead
toxicity and
require other transition-metal oxides to enhance their resistance
in the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with
ammonia (NH3-SCR). Herein, we found that the incorporation
of inert silica into pure MnOx effectively improved
the Pb resistance. The NOx conversion of the MnOx-SiO2-Pb catalyst was nearly 55% higher than
that of the MnOx-Pb catalyst, exhibiting enhanced
activity at lower temperatures (150–225 °C). To reveal
the essential roles at the molecular level, the types and numbers
of surface acidity, nitrate species, and catalytic cycle were established
through experimental analysis and theoretical calculations of catalysts.
The presence of PbCl2 occupied the active Mn sites, resulting
in an obvious decline in the Brønsted acid sites (B-NH4
+) and the oxidation performance, and the NH3-SCR cycle was energetically less favorable on the MnOx-Pb catalyst. Conversely, SiO2 played a crucial role in
preserving the activity of Mn sites on the MnOx-SiO2-Pb catalyst by preferentially bonding with PbCl2, generating more active intermediates. Significantly, this work
provided mechanistic insights into the role of SiO2 in
regulating the surface acidity, oxidation performance, and stability
of active Mn sites, which is helpful for the design of Mn-based catalysts
with high Pb resistance for the NH3-SCR reaction.