Delafossite based catalysts for diesel soot removal for passenger cars and light duty vehicles

Several Li-Cr delafossite catalysts were prepared via the so-called “Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS)” method, characterized and tested as catalysts for the combustion of diesel soot. These catalysts already showed appreciable activity at 350 °C even under loose contact conditions. An in situ SCS method was tailored to the preparation of a LiCr_0.9O₂ -catalyzed trap based on a SiC wall-flow monolith. Engine bench tests on these catalytic traps showed that the presence of the catalyst enabled both a more complete regeneration and a one-third fold reduction of the regeneration time compared to the case of a non-catalytic trap.