Metal Oxide Catalysts in Relation to Environmental Protection and Energy Conversion

Abstract

Metal oxide catalysts have played important roles in the removal of harmful gases and the effective utilization of methane. For the CO/NO removal using metal oxide catalysts, the lattice oxygens and oxygen defects in the metal oxide often act as active sites. Therefore, the development of highly active metal oxide catalysts requires rational designs of the packing structure of O2− ions and the redox ability of constituent metals. As part of such efforts, oxygen storage materials that rapidly store and release oxygen have been studied extensively, and such materials are applied as catalyst materials. In addition, for the formation of C2 hydrocarbons by oxidative coupling of methane, although many supported catalysts have been continually investigated, metal oxide catalysts containing multiple metals with unique coordination structures are being recently developed.