The reduction phase in NOx storage catalysis: Effect of type of precious metal and reducing agent

The effect of different reducing agents (H2, CO, C3H6 and C3H8) on the reduction of stored NOx over PM/BaO/Al2O3 catalysts (PM = Pt, Pd or Rh) at 350, 250 and 150 °C was studied by the use of both NO2-TPD and transient reactor experiments. With the aim of comparing the different reducing agents and precious metals, constant molar reduction capacity was used during the reduction period for samples with the same molar amount of precious metal. The results reveal that H2 and CO have a relatively high NOx reduction efficiency compared to C3H6 and especially C3H8 that does not show any NOx reduction ability except at 350 °C over Pd/BaO/Al2O3. The type of precious metals affects the NOx storage-reduction properties, where the Pd/BaO/Al2O3 catalyst shows both a high storage and a high reduction ability. The Rh/BaO/Al2O3 catalyst shows a high reduction ability but a relatively low NOx storage capacity.