A combinatorial approach for the discovery of low temperature soot oxidation catalysts

High-throughput syntheses using a commercial pipetting robot with the aid of the software “Plattenbau” as well as a highly parallel screening technique were used in the search of low temperature soot oxidation catalysts. It has been shown that emissivity-corrected infrared thermography which monitors the heat changes resulting from the heat of reaction on catalyst surfaces is an efficient and fast screening technique of soot oxidation catalysts. It was found that alkali metal mixed oxides have the potential to decrease the soot oxidation temperature to diesel exhaust realistic temperatures. From the first generation, the oxides K3Ce97 and Cs3Co97 were found to be the most active and stable samples. Further doping and composition spread of the CsCo catalyst resulted in even more active samples. HT-screening experiment hits were successfully confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis.