NO2 reduction with nitromethane over Ag/Y : A catalyst with high activity over a wide temperature range

Nitromethane (NM) is a very efficient reductant for converting NO2 to N2 over Ag/Y: Between 140 °C and 400 °C, the N2 yield is close to 100%. This high N2 yield results from the ability of Ag/Y to effectively catalyze the reaction between NM and NO2. This high catalytic activity of Ag/Y is minimally affected by surface bound CN−, NC−, or acetate, all of which are stable at temperatures below ∼300 °C. At T ≥ 400 °C, there is a reaction path that yields N2 from NM even in the absence of NO2. However even at 400 °C, under typical deNOx conditions, most N2 molecules are formed as a result of the reaction of NM and NO2.