Methane oxidation catalysts

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This proposal is to fund the development of new catalysts for methane oxidation. Methane is the third most abundant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere (after water and carbon dioxide) and is especially potent - it has a greenhouse warming potential of ~25x CO2 over a 100 year period. Although the atmospheric concentration of methane is <1% that of CO2, it accounts for about 4-9% of all greenhouse warming of the earth (cf. CO2 accounts for 9-26%). Thus, reducing the emission of methane into the atmosphere is an important goal. Natural gas is an abundant resource and a relatively clean alternative to gas and diesel. Composed mostly of methane, natural gas is now used in vehicles, furnaces, stationary energy supplies, and other areas. Reducing the amount of methane that is released following combustion is an important goal toward reducing Canada's greenhouse contributions. In this proposal, new materials will be developed for methane oxidation. These materials will be tested with the goal of incorporating them into automobile catalytic convertors.