This paper summarizes the main results obtained by the Fuel Combustion Group in three applications: (1) carbon-based catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) process of NO _x , (2) Pt and Pt–Ru catalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells, (3) carbon-supported catalysts for the electroreduction of CO ₂ . Concerning the first aspect, low-cost catalysts able to work at lower temperatures have been prepared and compared with commercial catalysts; for the second one, new catalysts for methanol and ethanol electrochemical oxidation exhibiting current densities that are double those of the commercial ones have been developed; as regards the third one, carbon-supported catalysts for the electroreduction of CO ₂ based on Fe and Pd were synthesized and tested. Formic acid was obtained as the main product on all Fe/C electrodes.

Cordierite-supported structured catalysts were prepared with several alumina-based suspensions containing K, Cs or Ba as alkali promoter, and Co, or Cu as active metals. The prepared catalysts were tested in a lab installation with a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) from 1300 h ⁻¹ to the one representative of the exhaust gases of a diesel engine, i.e. GHSV = 36,690 h ⁻¹ . Significant differences in the behavior of the catalysts are observed when increasing the GHSV, pointing to different predominant factors taking place in each case depending on the active metal and the alkali promoter used.