Vanadia doped tungsten–titania SCR catalysts as functional materials for exhaust gas sensor applications

Urea-SCR systems (selective catalytic reduction) are required to meet future NOx emission standards of heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles. It is a key factor to control the SCR systems and to monitor the catalysts’ functionalities to achieve low emissions. The novel idea of this study is to apply commercially available SCR catalyst materials based on vanadia-doped tungsten–titania as gas sensing films for impedimetric thick-film exhaust gas sensor devices. The dependence of the impedance on the surrounding gas atmosphere, especially on the concentrations of NH3 and NO2, is investigated, as well as cross interferences from other components of the exhaust. The sensors provide a good NH3 sensitivity at 500 °C. The sensor behavior is explained in light of the literature combining the fields of catalysts and semiconducting gas sensors.