The research team led by Prof. Han Jeong-woo (CE) and Kim Hyung-jun (CE Ph.D.) developed a high-efficiency catalyst that can reduce emissions at low temperatures. The research was selected and published as ChemCatChem’s cover and VIP thesis, a world-renowned authority in catalyst science.
Through the computational chemistry that deals with the problem of theoretical chemistry through computer simulation, the research team derived the dopant combination and presented it directly to researchers in the same lab, dramatically reduced the time and cost for designing an efficient catalyst.
To oxidize carbon monoxide (CO) emitted during car exhaust, the research team proposed a catalyst based on high-active cerium oxide (CeO₂). The catalyst was systematically designed through the method of double doping of two metastatic metals in cesium oxide. First, using oxidation techniques, the researchers identified Cu and Cu·Ag as the best candidates among single and dual doping combinations. After synthesizing nanoparticles to allow them to be doped on the cerium oxide grid, the researchers experimentally demonstrated higher catalysts activity than pure cesium oxide and other cesium oxide doped on metastatic metals.
“We have been able to systematically design a catalyst to reduce automobile exhaust through theory and experimental method, and further development of this method will speed up the commercialization of high-efficiency catalyst using cheap metal instead of an expensive precious metal catalyst,” Prof. Han said.
Meanwhile, the research was conducted with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea’s ultra-low energy automobile emission business group and the National Research Foundation of Korea’s mid-sized research project.