Alternative catalyst and exhaust gas sensor work at Argonne National Laboratory

Research programs at Argonne National Laboratory in the areas of automobile emissions monitoring and control are described. The mandate to improve automobile efficiency while reducing Pollution requires the development of new catalysts for exhaust emissions control that are capable of functioning efficiently under lean-burn engine operating conditions. It is also desirable that the use of expensive noble metal catalysts be avoided. NO{sub x} emissions will not be efficiently controlled by the current three-way, supported noble metal catalysts under lean-burn conditions. New catalysts are being sought that could effect the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO{sub x} by exhaust hydrocarbons in the presence of oxygen. Molecular sieve zeolites of the ZSM-5 and ferrierite types, ion-exchanged with copper ions, are the best of the catalysts known to effect this chemistry, but the mechanism of the SCR is still not understood. In this project the authors will first undertake the investigation of the SCR of NO using model reactions to test postulated mechanistic pathways. Initial experiments have been devised to investigate the possible participation of metal alkyl complexes, metal oxime complexes, N-alkyl-N-nitroso-alkylaminato-metal complexes, and metal nitrile complexes in the zeolites. ANL will also develop microsensors, based on surface acoustic wave (SAW) chemical sensing techniques, and a micro mass-spectrometer (MS) for tailpipe or engine-out emission monitoring. The sensor configurations and sensing techniques of the proposed SAW and micro-MS are described.