TY - JOUR
T1 - The application of PIXE to the mapping of contaminants deposited on a monolithic automotive catalytic converter
AU - Angove, Dennys E.
AU - Cant, Noel W.
AU - Bailey, Grahame M.
AU - Cohen, David D.
PY - 1996/4
Y1 - 1996/4
N2 - Automotive catalytic converters lose activity whilst in service. The degree of deactivation depends upon a number of factors including contamination by residues of additives or trace elements in fuel and/or engine oil, which generally reduces the surface area of the catalyst. In this initial investigation, PIXE was used to map contaminant deposition at three points along each of the central longitudinal axis and a parallel axis located closer to the side of a single monolith. This monolith was selected because it was physically undamaged and exhibited low surface area (<2 m2 g-1) at the front and reasonable surface area (>10 m2 g-1) towards the rear. A total of 20 elements were identified. The contaminants P, K, Ca, Zn and Pb were deposited in greater concentration towards the front of the monolith on both axes. Si may also be a contaminant; it is unexpectedly deposited more uniformly along the central axis than along the parallel side axis where it appears to decrease linearly from front to rear. Degraded precision was obtained for Al and Si in samples that were heavily contaminated.
AB - Automotive catalytic converters lose activity whilst in service. The degree of deactivation depends upon a number of factors including contamination by residues of additives or trace elements in fuel and/or engine oil, which generally reduces the surface area of the catalyst. In this initial investigation, PIXE was used to map contaminant deposition at three points along each of the central longitudinal axis and a parallel axis located closer to the side of a single monolith. This monolith was selected because it was physically undamaged and exhibited low surface area (<2 m2 g-1) at the front and reasonable surface area (>10 m2 g-1) towards the rear. A total of 20 elements were identified. The contaminants P, K, Ca, Zn and Pb were deposited in greater concentration towards the front of the monolith on both axes. Si may also be a contaminant; it is unexpectedly deposited more uniformly along the central axis than along the parallel side axis where it appears to decrease linearly from front to rear. Degraded precision was obtained for Al and Si in samples that were heavily contaminated.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=4243219379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0168-583X(95)00969-8
DO - 10.1016/0168-583X(95)00969-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:4243219379
SN - 0168-583X
VL - 109-110
SP - 563
EP - 568
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
ER -