Noble Metal Sintering Suppression Technology in Exhaust Catalyst

A major problem for three-way catalyst was the degradation of catalytic activity over time due to sintering of the dispersed noble metal particles as active component. Through catalyst development, we have found that sintering of the noble metal can be suppressed through the support anchoring effect when a suitable catalyst support is used. Based on this fact, a technology for new 3-way catalyst with ceria-based oxide for Pt and zirconia-based oxide for Rh has been co-developed with Toyota motor corporation. This developed catalyst yields high catalytic activity with a smaller amount of noble metal.