Dynamic Tuning of Oxygen Vacancies in Mn–Ce Catalysts via the Electron Complementary Effect for Enhanced Reduction of NO by CO

Developing efficient nonprecious metal catalysts for NO reduction using CO under O 2 -containing conditions has always been the focus of attention. In this study, the asymmetric Mn–O v –Ce structure was constructed on the Mn–Ce catalyst via a coprecipitation strategy. The optimized Mn 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 2 catalyst exhibited superior catalytic performance, achieving 90% NO conversion and 95% N 2 selectivity at 260 °C under 5% O 2 . Characterizations and theoretical calculations revealed that the asymmetric Mn–O v –Ce configuration promoted electron delivery between Mn and neighboring Ce, facilitating the generation of dynamic O v . Furthermore, in situ DRIFTS and DFT calculations demonstrated that the incorporated Mn was favorable to a faster consumption of intermediates and the dynamic replenishment of O v on the CeO 2 surface, thus promoting the catalytic performance. This study provides an efficient scheme for designing high-efficiency performance Ce-based catalysts by tuning the electronic structure of CeO 2 for NO reduction by CO under the O 2 -containing conditions.