Catalysis for automotive pollution control
Caractérisation des mécanismes chimiques des catalyseurs automobiles

Combustion engines are a source of air pollution and emit :

• unburned hydrocarbons ;

• oxides of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen;

• solid particles of carbonaceous residue (soot).

The proportion of these gaseous pollutants varies according to the type of engine (petrol or diesel), engine speed and the composition of the fossil fuel. They are partially or totally eliminated before being released into the atmosphere by reacting exhaust gases with a catalytic converter in the exhaust pipe.

The catalysts used to eliminate pollutants consist of one or more metals (Pt platinum, for example), dispersed in very fine particles of the order of ten nanometers, and fixed to a mineral...