Amino-acid modulated hierarchical In/H-Beta zeolites for selective catalytic reduction of NO with CH₄ in the presence of H₂O and SO₂

Selective catalytic reduction of NO with CH₄ (CH₄-SCR) has been studied over a series of amino-acid mediated hierarchical beta zeolites with indium exchange. Amino acid mesoporogens greatly affect the NO reduction (DeNO_x) efficiency of In/H-Beta catalysts. Mesoporous In/H-Beta-P synthesized using proline exhibits the highest NO_x removal efficiency of 40% in excess oxygen and poisonous SO₂ and H₂O, 10% higher than our previously optimized In/H-Beta catalyst using commercial beta zeolites with a similar Si/Al ratio. Analyses using XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, EPR, SEM, TEM, EDX, ICP, ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si MAS NMR, XPS, H₂-TPR, NH₃-TPD, and Py-IR reveal that amino acids promote beta crystallization, modulate zeolite acid sites and surface oxygen species, and generate hierarchical pore architectures without affecting the Si/Al ratio, indium content, and percentage of the active InO⁺ species. The mosaic-structured In/H-Beta-P exhibits the strongest Brønsted acidity and surface labile oxygen which enhance the oxyindium interaction with the zeolite framework, promoting CH₄-SCR activity. The strong acidity, surface active oxygen species, and mesopores lead to excellent stability of the In/H-Beta-P catalyst in the presence of SO₂ and H₂O, withstanding several catalytic DeNO_x cycles under harsh reaction conditions.