Catalyst preparation using plasma technologies

This paper discusses catalyst preparation using thermal and cold plasmas. In general, there are three main trends in preparing catalysts using plasma technologies: (1) plasma chemical synthesis of ultrafine particle catalysts; (2) plasma assisted deposition of catalytically active compounds on various carriers, especially plasma spraying for the preparation of supported catalysts; (3) plasma enhanced preparation or plasma modification of catalysts. Compared to conventional catalyst preparation, there are several advantages of using plasmas, including: (1) a highly distributed active species; (2) reduced energy requirements; (3) enhanced catalyst activation, selectivity, and lifetime; (4) shortened preparation time. These advantages are leading to many potential applications of plasma prepared catalysts. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.