New Generation of Rare Earth Compounds for Automotive Catalysis

Rare earths compounds, especially CeO₂, are widely used in automotive catalysis. Cerium dioxide contributes to the stabilization of precious metals but is particularly well known to be the active component for oxygen storage capacity (OSC). Standard cerium dioxide has poor thermal stability at temperatures higher than 800°C.

A new generation of metal based oxides has been studied possessing high thermal and OSC stability. We have demonstrated that commercially available Ce rich solid solutions of (Ce, Zr)O₂ showed the highest surface areas with remarkably improved OSC and phase stability versus temperature.