Catalytically active material and catalytic converter for the selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides

1. A catalytically active material consisting of an inner core ( 1 ) and a shell ( 2 ) surrounding this core, wherein the core is formed from a zeolite or a zeolite-like compound which has been exchanged with one or more transition metals excluding nickel and chromium, and wherein the shell is formed from one or more oxides selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, germanium dioxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, cerium oxide, zirconium dioxide and mixed oxides thereof.

2. The catalytically active material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the zeolite or the zeolite-like compound is selected from the group consisting of β-zeolite, ZSM-5, ZSM-20, USY and MOR.

3. The catalytically active material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the transition metals are selected from the group consisting of cerium, manganese, iron, copper, silver, gold, platinum, palladium and/or mixtures thereof.

4. The catalytically active material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the d 50 of the particle size distribution of the oxides in the shell is equal to or less than 100 nm, the d 50 of the particle size distribution of the oxides being understood such that 50% of the total volume of the oxides comprises only those particles whose diameter is less than or equal to the value reported as d 50 .

5. A process for producing the catalytically active material as claimed in claim 1 , comprising the following process steps:

impregnating the zeolite or the zeolite-like compound which forms the core with a solution comprising one or more alkoxides of the formula (I)

(RO) n-m MeR′ m   (I)

in which

n is 3 or 4 and m<n;

Me is silicon, germanium, aluminum, titanium, tin, cerium or zirconium;

R is (C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl or phenyl; and

R′ is (C 1 -C 8 )-alkyl, amino-(C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl, amino-(C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl whose amino group is substituted by amino-(C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl, or (C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl methacrylate, and

hydrolyzing and condensing the alkoxides, and

drying and calcining the solid resulting from the previous process step to form the corresponding oxides.

6. The process as claimed in claim 5 , wherein R is methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, butyl or phenyl.

7. The process as claimed in claim 5 , wherein R′ is amino-(C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl, N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl, isopropyl, isobutyl, phenyl, octyl or (C 1 -C 4 )-alkyl methacrylate.

8. A catalyst consisting of a catalytically inert support body and at least one coating applied thereto, wherein the coating comprises the catalytically active material as claimed in claim 1 .

9. A process for reducing the level of nitrogen oxides comprising nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide in hydrocarbon-containing diesel engine exhaust gases, comprising the process steps of

adding ammonia or a precursor compound decomposable to ammonia as a reducing agent to the exhaust gas which comprises nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons and is to be cleaned, and

passing the resulting mixture of exhaust gas and reducing agent over a catalyst as claimed in claim 8 .

10. The process as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the exhaust gas, prior to the addition of ammonia or a precursor compound decomposable to ammonia, is passed over an oxidation catalyst which is effective for conversion of at least a portion of the nitrogen monoxide present in the exhaust gas to nitrogen dioxide.

11. The process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the oxidation catalyst is in the form of a catalytically active coating on a monolithic flow honeycomb and/or on a wall flow filter substrate.