Today we’re going to talk about a new way to reduce harmful pollution from millions of engines worldwide.
This new technology was introduced by scientists in a recent publication in the journal Nature Catalysis.
Scientists have developed a unique catalyst that attaches single palladium atoms to its surface. What does it do?
Well, it can remove about 90% of unburned methane from the exhaust of natural gas engines even at lower temperatures.
That’s awesome because methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat 25 times more than carbon dioxide.
The researchers from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Washington State University found that this catalyst worked effectively both at low engine start-up temperatures and at higher operating temperatures.
This is groundbreaking because usually, catalysts struggle to work at these extreme temperature ranges.
Now you might ask, why is this important? Around the world, between 30 and 40 million vehicles run on natural gas.
These engines are considered to be cleaner than gasoline or diesel engines, but they still emit heat-trapping methane when starting up.
Current catalysts aren’t effective enough at removing methane, especially at lower temperatures. But with this new catalyst, we can potentially reduce these methane emissions significantly.
What makes this even cooler is that every atom of the precious palladium metal used in the catalyst is fully utilized, making it a cost-effective and efficient solution.
Another interesting discovery the researchers made is the positive role of carbon monoxide in this whole process.
Normally, carbon monoxide is a harmful pollutant. But here, trace amounts of it help the single atoms of palladium form small clusters that break apart methane molecules effectively at low temperatures.
As the exhaust temperature rises, these clusters disperse into single atoms again, allowing the catalyst to continue working efficiently.
The researchers are continuing their work to make this catalyst even better and understand why different metals behave differently in similar situations.
This technology still has a way to go before we see it in our cars, but the researchers are collaborating with industry partners to get this innovative solution closer to commercial use.
So, what we have here could be a game-changer in reducing harmful emissions from natural gas engines and tackling global warming!
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Source: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
