Catalytic hydrogenation of nitrate in water: improvement of the activity and selectivity to N by using Rh(III)-hexamolybdate supported on ZrO-AlO.

Catalysts prepared on ZrO, AlO and ZrO-AlO (ZrAl-10) supported with Anderson heteropolyanion (RhMo) as active phase were investigated for the elimination of NO from water. Raman characterization of pure and supported RhMo phase showed the presence of polymolybdic species of different degrees of complexity when RhMo was supported. The temperature-programmed reduction study revealed the synergic effect between Rh and Mo species, through which the reducibility of Mo was promoted by Rh, and different phase/support interactions were verified.