Addressing a Burning Issue: Complete combustion of methane is required in order to avoid the unproductive emission of this greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Palladium catalysts can help to promote complete combustion, but high-temperature operating conditions also promote aggregation of catalyst particles (“sintering”) that lowers their surface area and overall activity.
Cargnello
et al. (p. 713 ; see the Perspective by Farrauto ) report that cerium oxide–coated Pd catalyst particles could be fully dispersed on an alumina surface prepared with a hydrophobic coating. This treatment resisted Pd sintering up to temperatures of 800°C, and also enabled complete combustion of methane to occur at temperatures as low as 400°C.