A Study on Catalysis by Ferrospinels for Preventing Atmospheric Pollution from Carbon Monoxide

Ferrospinel catalyst samples containing Nickel, Cobalt and Copper have been synthesized by room temperature co-precipitation route and have been found to be effective for the oxidative removal of carbon monoxide from automobile exhaust gases even at relatively lower temperatures (cold-start). These catalyst materials have been characterized by modern physico-chemical techniques such as XRD, TG, BET-BJH and SEM etc. Nitrogen adsorption studies shows the samples are mesoporous in nature with pore diameter of 5 - 10 nm. The catalytic efficiencies of these materials of having various compositions have been tested in a series of temperature programmed oxidation reactions involving carbon monoxide and the results discussed.