Low‐Temperature Remediation of NO Catalyzed by Interleaved CuO Nanoplates

Air pollution by automobile exhaust is becoming a global challenge; it is not limited to developing countries where traffic volumes are rapidly increasing.[1] Small vehicles, such as motorcycles and scooters with an engine displacement of 100 mL or less,[2] are one of the major causes for such air pollution; only a small percentage of these vehicles is equipped with exhaust purifiers.[3] Current exhaust purifiers comprise catalysts based on platinum-group metals (PGMs), such as Pt, Pd, and Rh.[4–7] The supply of PGMs may not be reliable for meeting the increasing demands for exhaust purification since deposits of PGMs in the Earth's crust are limited and localized.[8] Furthermore, PGM-based catalysts are not suited to the low-temperature exhaust of small vehicles (<300 °C at the catalyst) because at temperatures less than 300 °C they exhibit poor activity toward one of the most harmful gases in the exhaust, nitrogen monoxide (NO).[9]