Cleaner air with a cold catalytic converter

Photo: Bart van Overbeeke New paper in the prestigious journal Science outlines a new catalyst that can purify exhaust gases at room temperature. Although passenger vehicle catalytic converters have been mandatory for over 30 years, there is still plenty of room for improvement. For instance, they only work correctly when the engine is sufficiently hot, which is not always the case, especially with hybrid vehicles. Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), together with colleagues from the University of Antwerp, have developed an improved catalyst that can properly purify exhaust gases even at room temperature. Their work is published in the journal Science on June 16 . The so-called three-way catalytic converter in the exhaust system of a car consists of expensive materials and only works correctly when the exhaust gases have a temperature that is several hundred degrees Celsius. As a result, when you start your car, or when you drive a hybrid car in which the petrol engine and electric motor alternate between driving the powertrain, the gases leaving the exhaust still contain toxic carbon monoxide.