Composition-driven Cu-speciation and reducibility in Cu-CHA zeolite catalysts: a multivariate XAS/FTIR approach to complexity

The small pore Cu-CHA zeolite is attracting increasing attention as a versatile platform to design novel single-site catalysts for deNO applications and for the direct conversion of methane to methanol. Understanding at the atomic scale how the catalyst composition influences the Cu-species formed during thermal activation is a key step to unveil the relevant composition-activity relationships. Herein, we explore by XAS the impact of Cu-CHA catalyst composition on temperature-dependent Cu-speciation and reducibility. Advanced multivariate analysis of XANES in combination with DFT-assisted simulation of XANES spectra and multi-component EXAFS fits as well as FTIR spectroscopy of adsorbed N allow us to obtain unprecedented quantitative structural information on the complex dynamics during the speciation of Cu-sites inside the framework of the CHA zeolite.