from engine exhaust at lower temperatures, less than 350° Celsius , while maintaining reaction stability at higher temperatures.
Natural gas engines are used in about 30 million to 40 million vehicles worldwide and are popular in Europe and Asia. The gas industry also uses them to run compressors that pump natural gas to people’s homes. They are generally considered cleaner than gasoline or diesel engines, creating less carbon and particulate pollution.
A single-atom catalyst with the active metals singly dispersed on a support also uses every atom of the expensive and precious metals, Wang added. “If you can make them more reactive, that’s the icing on the cake.” Then, as the exhaust temperatures rose, the sub-nanometer-sized clusters re-dispersed to single atoms again so that the catalyst was thermally stable. This reversible process enables the catalyst to work effectively and uses every palladium atom the entire time the engine was running – including when it started cold.