DOI: 10.

1595/147106707X205857
FINAL ANALYSIS
Why Use Platinum in Catalytic
Converters?
Why is platinum used over other catalytic mate- temperature (600700C) for a petrol car being
rials such as silver or gold? driven on a motorway, and so this precludes their
The role of platinum in catalytic converters is use in three-way catalysts.
to oxidise carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocar-
Table I
bons. Platinum is particularly effective at this
under oxygen-excessive conditions, so is often the The Platinum Group Metals and Their Nearest
metal of choice for diesel applications. For petrol- Neighbours, Showing Atomic Number, Chemical
Symbol and Tammann Temperature (C)
powered vehicles (where there is a balance
between reductants and oxidants in the exhaust 25 26 27 28 29
gas), platinum and palladium can be equally effec- Mn Fe Co Ni Cu
tive, and so the choice is often made on the basis 485C 630C 610C 590C 405C
of relative cost. The three-way catalyst used for 43 44 45 46 47
petrol vehicles must also be able to reduce NOx to Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag
nitrogen as well as oxidise CO and hydrocarbons 975C 990C 845C 640C 345C
that is why rhodium is generally used in addition 75 76 77 78 79
to platinum or palladium. Re Os Ir Pt Au
Of course, some of the other transition ele- 1450C 1375C 1085C 750C 395C
ments are also capable of catalysing oxidation
reactions. However, platinum has several advan- In addition, metals such as silver and copper
tages: have a high affinity for sulfur-containing mole-
it has a high melting point; cules, with which they will react to form
its interactions with poisons (such as sulfur compounds (such as metal sulfates or sulfides). As
compounds) are limited to the metal surface; this happens, there will be progressively less metal
it can be efficiently recycled. available for the useful reactions to take place.
Although its high melting point may seem irrel- Platinum is different because it tends not to
evant, because the platinum will never come close become totally or irreversibly poisoned, i.e. sulfur-
to that temperature during use, it does provide an containing molecules inhibit rather than poison
indication of its overall thermal durability. In a cat- platinum-based catalysts (see also (2)).
alytic converter, the metal is in the form of S. E. GOLUNSKI
nanoparticles, which are dispersed over the entire
surface of a highly porous support material. As the References
temperature of the catalyst rises, the particles start 1 C. N. Satterfield, Heterogeneous Catalysis in
to become mobile and can coalesce this is called Industrial Practice, 2nd Edn., 1996 reprint, Krieger
Publishing, Melbourne, FL, U.S.A.
sintering, and becomes particularly noticeable as the 2 J. K. Dunleavy, Platinum Metals Rev., 2006, 50, (2),
metal approaches its Tammann temperature, at 110
which bulk mobility of the metal particles
becomes measurable. This temperature is often The Author
taken to be half the materials melting point on the Dr Stan Golunski is Technology Manager of Gas
Phase Catalysis at the Johnson Matthey Technology
absolute temperature scale (1). Metals such as gold Centre, U.K. Since joining the company in 1989, he
has worked on fuel reforming, process catalysis,
and silver have a Tammann temperature (see and catalytic aftertreatment for internal combustion
Table I) that is well below the average exhaust-gas engines.

Platinum Metals Rev., 2007, 51, (3), 162 162