A novel mesostructured alumina-ceria-zirconia tri-component nanocomposite with high thermal stability and its three-way catalysis

A polycopolymer-assisted self-assembly process under hydrothermal condition has been developed for preparing mesostructured alumina-ceria-zirconia tri-component nanocomposite. This composite showed a uniform worm-like mesoporous structure with nanocrystallite framework, sharp pore-size distribution, high surface area (>180 m(2)/g), high thermal stability (>1000 degrees C) and excellent oxygen storage capacity (OSC). Small amounts of precious metals can be homogeneously loaded into the worm-like pore structure, which could maintain their high dispersity even when calcined at 1000 degrees C. Such a nanocomposite catalyst showed high performance for the three-way exhaust catalytic conversion with low ignition temperatures at engine start-up and high thermal stability against aging. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.