CO oxidation and NO reduction over supported Pt-Rh and Pd-Rh nanocatalysts: a comparative study

Abstract The surface compositions of supported Pt 50 Rh 50 and Pd 50 Rh 50 three-way catalysts (TWC) have been simulated by Monte-Carlo (MC) technique and used for calculating the activity of the catalysts for CO oxidation and NO reduction. Pd-Rh shows a higher activity than Pt-Rh for CO oxidation in presence of O 2 , while Pt-Rh is a better CO oxidation catalyst in absence of O 2 . For NO reduction, Pt-Rh nanoparticles are better catalysts both in presence and absence of O 2 . β-N 2 is found to be the most dominant channel for N 2 formation on Pt-Rh nanoparticles, while, δ-N 2 is found to be the most dominant pathway for N 2 production on Pd-Rh. The poisoning effect of sulphur is found to be more on Pd-Rh catalyst than on Pt-Rh catalyst.