Low temperature activation of CO removal by O3-assisted catalysis

Catalytic CO oxidation was activated at low temperature by injecting O3 as an additive. It was empirically confirmed that CO removal rate was dramatically enhanced by supplying a small amount of O3, and the reaction temperature was almost half that required for CO oxidation when using a catalyst only. By optimizing the concentration of O3, catalytic CO oxidation could be achieved within 1 min at low operational temperature. The removal rate of CO was sensitive to the concentration of O3, and a deduced reaction mechanism is discussed to explain how catalytic CO oxidation is activated but subsequently deactivated at higher O3 concentration. Moreover, the presence of C3H8 and C3H6 were considered to evaluate the effects of each gas on the enhancement of CO removal rate by O3. Finally, the rate of CO removal was evaluated with increasing O3 concentration for practical applications such as the cold-start problem in automobile engines.