Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia: A theoretical ab initio study

Ab initio quantum chemical studies at the HF/Lanl2dz level were carried out to investigate the interaction of ammonia, NO, and a mixture of the two with vanadia/titania. It was found that the replacement of Ti_6c by V_6c is the only feasible way to form highly dispersed vanadia over the titania. The V=O species thus formed will be in octahedral symmetry with the axial distortions, and no tetrahedrally coordinated V species can be formed. Ammonia fully covers the catalyst surface either through the associative interaction with the Lewis acid site of Ti_5c or the dissociative adsorption channels. The dissociation of ammonia on the O site bridging the Ti_6c and V_6c octahedra and on the V=O group can proceed with the highest gain in energy. The formation of an adsorbed ammonium ion was found to be an energetically highly unfavorable process. The V=O group is no longer expected to play a major role in the stabilization of the surface ammonium ion. NO can be activated on the Ti_5c site of the catalyst containing predissociated ammonia on the bridging O site and V=O group. It can be expected that the SCR reaction products are formed through the reactions of both adsorbed NO and NH₂ or the desorbed NH₂ group with NO in the gas phase.