Catalysts with Significantly-Reduced Noble Metal Content for Emission Control Systems

Background:

There is an increasingly stringent emission regulation due to global concerns over the environmental pollution and air quality. The use of pure or high levels of noble metals (Pt, Rh, Pd) in the existing commercial catalysts are increasingly unsustainable in many aspects, including high price, noble metal scarcity, low recycling recovery, and limited global supply, therefore posing significant challenges to catalyst manufacturing. Manufacturing low-cost and efficient catalysts for commercial applications in emission control systems will have important impacts on both technological advancement of catalytic science and the societal benefit of clean environment.

Technology Overview:

In this new technology, the use of noble metals in combination with non-noble metals in the catalysts reduces the content of noble metals in the catalysts by 30 to 70% in comparison with the use of pure noble metals in existing catalysts in many emission control systems. The reduction of the noble metals in the catalysts will reduce the cost of catalysts under the same catalytic performance condition in comparison with existing high-noble-content catalysts.

Advantages:

In comparison with existing commercial catalysts for 3-way catalytic converters and related emission control systems under comparable catalytic performances, the major advantages include low noble metal content in the catalysts and low cost in the catalyst products.