Electrochemical promotion of catalysis for pollution control

涉及氮氧化物（NOx）、碳氢化合物、挥发性有机化合物和一氧化碳的催化转化的反应对于去除来自固定源和汽车源的有毒排放物具有重要的环境意义。有毒化合物可以通过多相催化转化为无害的非污染物。在存在过量氧气的情况下通过轻质烃还原氮氧化物，典型的是贫燃和柴油发动机的排气，提出了巨大的技术挑战。传统的催化剂存在成本高、寿命短、催化过程活性难以控制等缺点。最近发现的电化学促进催化（EPOC）现象与经典的多相催化相结合，可以用来克服上述一些问题。负载在固体电解质上的金属或金属氧化物膜的催化剂电极电位的受控变化是催化活性和选择性的显著变化的原因。已经证明，电化学促进不限于任何特定的电解质、导电催化剂或反应类型。EPOC商业化的主要障碍是缺乏有效的催化剂和反应器设计。该研究计划的目标是开发有效的系统设备，用于去除有毒污染物（NOx，碳氢化合物，一氧化碳等）。从柴油机和稀燃汽车尾气中使用电化学促进。中短期的总体目标是设计具有确定尺寸和结构的纳米结构催化剂，以及它们在NOx还原中的应用。长期的目标是建立一个全面的理解与纳米结构的催化剂的电化学促进。这一跨学科研究的重要成果将回答多相催化中的许多基本问题，并将纳米催化系统带入空气污染防治的新阶段。

Reactions involving the catalytic conversion of nitrogen oxide (NOx), hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide are of major environmental importance for the removal of toxic emissions from both stationary and automotive sources. Toxic compounds can be converted to harmless non-pollutants using heterogeneous catalysis. The reduction of nitrogen oxides by light hydrocarbons in the presence of excess of oxygen, typical of the exhaust of lean-burn and Diesel engines, presents a great technological challenge. Conventional catalysts show several disadvantages, such as high cost, short life time, and fail to control their activity during the catalytic process. The recently discovered phenomenon of Electrochemical Promotion of Catalysis (EPOC) combined with classical heterogeneous catalysis could be applied in order to overcome some of the above mentioned problems. The controlled variation in the catalyst-electrode potential of metal or metal oxide films supported on solid electrolytes is responsible for considerable changes in catalytic activity and selectivity. It has been demonstrated that electrochemical promotion is not limited to any particular electrolyte, conductive catalyst, or type of reaction. The major obstacles towards commercialization of EPOC are the lack of efficient catalysts and reactor design. The objective of the proposed research program is to develop efficient system devices for the removal of the toxic pollutants (NOx, hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, etc.) from Diesel and lean-burn automobile exhausts using electrochemical promotion. The overall goal in the short to medium term is to design nano-structured catalysts of defined size and structure, and their application to NOx reduction. The long term objective is to establish a comprehensive understanding of the electrochemical promotion with nano-structured catalysts. The significant output of this interdisciplinary research will answer many fundamental questions in heterogeneous catalysis and lead to a new stage of nano-sized catalytic systems for air pollution prevention.