Scientists Explain Catalysis Neutralizing Car's Tail Gas

摘要

The neutralization of the car's tail gas is a problem of practical importance in the eyes of both experimental and theoretical physicists. Recently, a group of CAS scientists join hands with the Queen's University of Belfast in the UK to make advances in exploring the process of CO oxidation in a bid to reduce the air pollution caused by the car's exhaust aas. The work has been supported by the "National 973 Program" and the CAS Foundation for Overseas Studies. On March 4, its result was published by the Internet edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In the course of screening the workable catalysts, scientists discovered that composite materials composed of gold and oxides can trigger the catalytic reaction at an in-door temperature and water plays a special role in maintaining the reaction and ensuring its completion. But until recently, they were still puzzled by the source of the oxygen atom and the critical role played by water in the CO oxidation at the interface between the gold and oxide.