The selective catalytic reduction reaction belongs to the gas-solid multiphase reaction, and the adsorption of NH3 and NO on CuO/γ-Al2O3 catalysts plays an important role in the reaction. Performance of the CuO/γ-Al2O3 catalysts was explored in a fixed bed adsorption system. The catalysts maintain nearly 100% NO conversion efficiency at 350℃. Comprehensive tests were carried out to study the adsorption behavior of NH3 and NO over the catalysts. The desorption experiments prove that NH3 and NO are adsorbed on CuO/γ-Al2O3 catalysts. The adsorption behaviors of NH3 and NO were also studied with the in-situ diffusion reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy methods. The results show that NH3 could be strongly adsorbed on the catalysts, resulting in coordinated NH3 and NH4＋. NO adsorption leads to the formation of bridging bidentate nitrate, chelating bidentate nitrate, and chelating nitro. The interaction of NH3 and NO molecules with the Cu2＋ present on the CAl2O3 （100） surface was investigated by using a periodic density functional theory. The results show that the adsorption of all the molecules on the Cu2＋ site is energetically favorable, whereas NO bound is stronger than that of NH3 with the adsorption site, and key information about the structural and energetic properties was also addressed.
