Electrochimica Acta, Vol.47, No.8, 1259-1265, 2002
Electrochemical promotion of bimetallic Rh-Ag/YSZ catalysts for the reduction of NO under lean burn conditions
At positive overpotentials, Rh-Ag bimetallic electrodes interfaced with yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) exhibit strong electrochemical promotion in the catalytic reduction of NO by propene, even in the presence of a large excess of gaseous oxygen. Compared with the unpromoted system, at positive overpotentials, the N-2 production rate can be accelerated by a factor of eight: this is the key figure of merit. In addition the N-2 selectivity improves from 28 to 55%. The effect on reaction rates is strongly non-faradaic and persists to a significant degree in the absence of applied potential. At negative overpotentials the nitrogen-containing products exhibit faradaic behaviour, possibly reflecting self-poisoning of the system due to excessive adsorption of oxygen. The overall performance of the Rh-Ag/YSZ bimetallic system is substantially better than that of Rh, YSZ, suggesting that the former are promising candidates for use in novel approaches to NO, reduction under fuel lean conditions.