ABSTRACT
William F. Schneider Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of Notre Dame
CONTENTS
10.1 Why NOx Catalysis? ................................................................................................233
10.2 Gas-Phase NOx Thermodynamics and Kinetics ...................................................... 234
10.3 Electronic Structure Simulations for NOx Catalysis ................................................238
10.4 Reactions on Metal Oxides: NOx Adsorption ......................................................... 242
10.5 Reactions on Metal Surfaces: NO Oxidation........................................................... 250
10.6 Reactions on Metal-Exchanged Zeolites: NO Decomposition.................................257
10.7 Final Observations ...................................................................................................263
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. 264
Reference............................................................................................................................264
The control of nitrogen oxide emissions from combustion sources is a long-standing and
important challenge for environmental protection. Nitrogen forms a uniquely large number
of oxides [1], including amongst others nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, nitric
oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The last two (collectively, NOx) are noxious, contrib-
ute directly to the formation of acid rain, and are key ingredients in the production of photo-
chemical smog (ozone) and particulates [2, 3]. For these reasons, NOx is one of the six ‘‘criteria’’
pollutants used to establish national air quality standards in the United States [4], and NOx emissions from mobile and stationary sources are closely monitored and regulated [5].
