A novel platinum-alumina catalyst that allows removal by oxidation of harmful volatile organic compounds present in factory exhaust gases has been developed.

· The reaction temperature is 100 ºC lower than current reaction temperatures.

· The thermal resistance of the catalyst is approximately 200 ºC higher and there is no deterioration at high temperature.
Synopsis

Toshihiko Osaki, Senior Researcher, of the Meso-Porous Ceramics Group (Koji Tajiri, Group Leader) of the Materials Research Institute for Sustainable Development (Mamoru Nakamura, Director) and the Advanced Sintering Technologies Group (Koji Watari, Group Leader) of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute (Hideto Mitome, Director), both from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, Director), together with NGK Insulators Ltd. (Shun Matsushita, President), have succeeded in developing a highly porous platinum-alumina catalyst for use in industrial exhaust gas purificators (Figure 1) with the characteristic of high temperature resistance coupled with a high efficiency.

The reaction temperature of this catalyst is 100 ºC lower than the reaction temperatures of the catalysts currently in use, and the thermal resistance has been improved to approximately 200 ºC. The characteristics of this catalyst, together with the use of low cost aluminum hydroxide as the starting material, and the implementation of a low cost and simple process such as freeze-drying, will lead to the spread of its applications.