Institute of Energy Technologies

Exhaust gas treatment (CO and soot oxidation, methane abatement,…)

The increasing concern over the abundant emissions of harmful gases and carbon soot from industries and vehicles is pushing towards the development of more efficient catalysts for their abatement. This is particularly true for natural gas fueled vehicles and boilers, for which the exponential growth of the market and the concern for methane global warming potential urge for the design of catalytic systems with improved activity at low temperature and higher resistance to deactivation under operating conditions. We prepare and study ceria-based catalysts for the abatement of CO, soot, CH4 and other injurious substances. The use of ceria as support confers additional benefits to the catalysts due to its unique redox features and oxygen storage capacity. Among different strategies, we use mechanochemical methods to significantly improve interfacial interactions.


Some relevant publications:

Danielis, M., Colussi, S., de Leitenburg, C., Soler, L., Llorca, J., Trovarelli, A. The effect of milling parameters on the mechanochemical synthesis of Pd–CeO2 methane oxidation catalysts. Catalysis Science & Technology, 2019, 9, 4232-4238.

Danielis, M., Colussi, S., de Leitenbutg, C., Soler, L., Llorca, J., Trovarelli, A. Outstanding Methane Oxidation Performance of Pd-Embedded Ceria Catalysts Prepared by a One-step Dry Ball-Milling Method. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2018, 57, 10212-10216.

Aneggi, E., Rico, V., de Leitenburg, C., Maschio, S., Soler, L., Llorca, J., Trovarelli, A. Ceria-zirconia particles wrapped in a 2D carbon envelope: Improved low-temperature oxygen transfer and oxidation activity. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2015, 54, 14040-14043.

Aneggi, E., Wiater, D., de Leitenburg, C., Llorca, J., Trovarelli, A. Shape-dependent activity of ceria in soot combustion. ACS Catalysis, 2014, 4, 172-181.

Colussi, S., Gayen, A., Camellone, M.F., Boaro, M., Llorca, J., Fabris, S., Trovarelli, A. Nanofaceted Pd-O sites in Pd-O-Ce surface superstructures: Increased activity in catalytic combustion of methane. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2009, 48, 8481-8484.