High-Throughout Synthesis and Screening of Catalytic Materials for NOx Reduction

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Proposal Title: High-throughput Synthesis and Screening of Catalytic Materials for NOx Proposal Number: CTS-0004523 Principal Investigator: Selim Senkan Institution: University of California Los Angeles The objective of this proposal is to apply combinatorial catalysis to the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by hydrocarbons. The proposed research entails the generation and screening of large libraries of supported catalyst materials for NOx SCR activity. Initial compositions will be based on catalysts and supports known to have some amount of activity. Catalyst testing will be conducted by placing the catalyst materials into wells of array channel microreactors over which simulated exhaust gases will be passed. Each array microreactor system will allow the parallel testing of 80 different catalytic materials. Screening will be accomplished by analyzing the reactor effluents using mass spectrometry or resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy. Algorithms used in genetic research will be applied to this problem. This work will help develop the methodology for combinatorial catalysis coupled with an informatics approach for guiding optimization. Application of the techniques to an important environmental problem will demonstrate their utility.