Strontium-Doped Perovskites Rival Platinum Catalysts for Treating NO x in Simulated Diesel Exhaust

Abstract

Platinum-Free Diesel The efficiency advantages inherent in diesel-based combustion engines are counterbalanced by the production of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO x ). Currently, expensive precious metals, such as platinum, are required to remove these pollutants. Kim et al. (p. 1624 ; see the Perspective by Parks ) show that a strontium-doped perovskite catalyst, prepared from more abundant (and cheaper) elements, may help to lower the cost of NO x treatments and thus ultimately make diesel a more cost-effective automotive fuel. Under conditions realistically simulating exhaust streams, the catalyst rivaled platinum in accelerating NO x decomposition.