The aim of the ERC PoC project "Low Cost Material for Exhaust Catalysis (LowCat)" was to develop a low cost catalyst to replace the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) that are widely used in automotive exhaust catalysis. The ERC Advanced Grant project CODITA was an investigation into the impacts of cosmic dust in planetary atmospheres. During the course of the project we developed a novel laboratory synthesis of cosmic dust particle analogues. The kinetics of carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation on this material were studied in order to model the heterogeneous oxidation of CO to carbon dioxide (CO2) in the troposphere of Venus, where the temperature ranges from 120 - 440 oC. Noting that the conditions on Venus are strikingly similar to those in a vehicle exhaust, this discovery formed the basis of the LowCat project.
In the PoC project we successfully demonstrated that the LowCat material is an efficient catalyst both for oxidizing CO and reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) in diesel exhaust. The low-temperature reduction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is particularly exciting, since most NOx emission occurs with cold engines (either at start-up or when idling in traffic), and most commercial catalysts have light-off temperatures above 170 oC. The project has resulted in a pending UK patent, and the same information contained in the patent is ready to be submitted for publication once the patent is granted. The results have also been presented at three conferences. A further project is now planned with support from an Impact Acceleration Fund at the University of Leeds. This will bring a company specialising in the design and manufacture of high performance exhaust and emission control systems onboard to develop prototypes and move towards a licencing agreement.
There is potentially a very large socioeconomic impact. The automotive catalysis market has a gross demand with an estimated value of US$ 3.3 bn in platinum alone. This demand is expected to increase as increasingly stringent emissions targets are implemented. The automotive industry faces a significant challenge in the coming years to meet diesel vehicle NOx emissions targets, because of the clear link between poor air quality and health. It is estimated that 75,000 premature deaths in 2012 were related to diesel NOx emissions, in Europe alone. A cheap material, capable of meeting environmental targets, would clearly be capable of transforming the automotive vehicle market and benefiting human health. This would further impact other areas as precious metals would be more available for industrial catalysis applications such as pharmaceuticals production, where there is already a growth market and a significant potential to reduce energy consumption and thereby environmental impact.
