Honda Develops New Catalyst to Significantly Reduce Use of Precious Metals
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the development of a new catalyst which reduces by 50% the use of rhodium, one of the precious metals used in a catalyst. Honda will adopt this new catalyst first for its cars and will in time adopt it for motorcycles.With the backdrop of the increasing volume of global automotive production and the global trend of strengthening emission regulations, the demand for precious metals used for catalyst, including platinum, rhodium and palladium, is expected to continue to increase in the future. Honda has been committed to the effort to reduce the use of precious metals for its catalysts, and has successfully applied a catalyst that does not contain any platinum into practical use with one of its current car models.
The newly developed catalyst allows palladium to speed up the process of absorption and desorption of oxygen, therefore enabling reduced use of rhodium in the purification of exhaust emissions. The adoption of this new catalyst will reduce overall use of precious metals by 22% (including a 50% reduction in rhodium) compared to a vehicle with conventional catalyst. Moreover, the development of the new catalyst has reduced the cost by 37% while complying with the strictest emissions regulation in the world.
