Role of Ceria in the Design of Composite Materials for Elemental Mercury Removal

The necessity to drastically act against mercury pollution has been emphatically addressed by the United Nations. Coal‐fired power plants contribute a great deal to the anthropogenic emissions; therefore, numerous sorbents/catalysts have been developed to remove elemental mercury (Hg 0 ) from flue gases. Among them, ceria (CeO 2 ) has attracted significant interest, due to its reversible Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ redox pair, surface‐bound defects and acid‐base properties. The removal efficiency of Hg 0 vapor depends among others, on the flue gas composition and temperature. CeO 2 can be incorporated into known materials in such a way that the abatement process can be effective at different operating conditions. Hence, the scope of this account is to discuss the role of CeO 2 as a promoter, active phase and support in the design of composite Hg 0 sorbents/catalysts. The elucidation of each of these roles would allow the integration of CeO 2 advantageous characteristics to such degree, that tailor‐made environmental solution to complex issues can be provided within a broader application scope. Besides, it would offer invaluable input to theoretical calculations that could enable the materials screening and engineering at a low cost and with high accuracy.