“Conventional exhaust catalysts are loaded with excess amounts of precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium for treatment of pollutants, said Sina Sartipi, a researcher.
We decided to observe the effect of partial substitution of cobalt by Palladium in LaCoO3 perovskite structure (doping) and check if it can be used as an appropriate alternative component for conventional catalysts, Sartipi added.
Sartipi has also reported that there is a reversible transfer between active surface area and volume of the regenerative catalyst. The atmosphere of automotive exhaust gas changes between oxidative and reductive atmospheres. So, the catalyst adjusts its structure to the environmental redox fluctuations as a reversible response. Hence, such regenerative converters are also called Smart Catalysts.
Sartipi added that the advantage of this product will be its high activity leading to a longer life and more efficient functioning of gasoline engines when compared to similar catalytic converters. He also said that the researchers have planned to launch this technology to the industry.
The research to develop new nano-catalysts was conducted under the direction of Abbas Ali Khodadadi, Yadollah Mortazavi, in Catalysis and Nanostructured Materials Research Laboratory, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Tehran.
