Encapsulation of ultra-small Cu–Fe into ZSM-5 zeolites for NH3-SCR with broad reaction-temperature ranges

A direct hydrothermal synthesis strategy is developed to prepare the Cu–Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites by using the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium dihydrate (EDTA-2Na·2H 2 O) chelated Cu 2+ and Fe 3+ precursors as metal sources. During the crystallization, the metal chelates were spontaneously embedded into the ZSM-5 crystals and subsequently transformed to the zeolites encapsulated copper and iron species after removing the chelating agent via the high-temperature calcination . Rigorous characterizations indicate that the resulted Cu 2+ /Cu + and Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ species are formed ultra-small nano-composites with an average diameter of ∼2.2 nm and highly dispersed in the ZSM-5 zeolite crystals. The acidity of the ZSM-5 zeolites is subtly modulated by the encapsulated Cu–Fe nano-composite. As expected, the as-prepared Cu–Fe-ZSM-5 exhibits outstanding catalytic performance for the selective catalytic reduction of NO x with ammonia (NH 3 -SCR) in the broad reaction temperature ranges of 220–480 °C, which is much better than the Cu–Fe/ZSM-5 prepared with the conventional wetness impregnation method. Furthermore, the resultant zeolites show high stability and good tolerance to H 2 O and SO 2 , and it is very competitive for practical application to eliminate NO x . The developed one-pot hydrothermal synthesis route by using EDTA-2Na·2H 2 O as chelating agent is very convenient and easily reproducible, providing a general guideline to design and fabricate the superior transition metal modified zeolite catalysts for NH 3 -SCR and the related reactions.