Effect of the CeZrNd mixed oxide synthesis method in the catalytic combustion of soot

Ce0.64Zr0.27Nd0.09Oδ mixed oxides have been prepared by three different methods (nitrates calcination, coprecipitation and microemulsion), characterized by N2 adsorption, XRD, H2-TPR, Raman spectroscopy and XPS, and tested for soot combustion in NOx/O2. The catalyst prepared by microemulsion method is the most active one, which is related to its high surface area (147 m2/g) and low crystallite size (6 nm), and the lowest activity was obtained with the catalyst prepared by coprecipitation (74 m2/g; 9 nm). The catalyst prepared by nitrates precursors calcination is slightly less active to that prepared by microemulsion, but the synthesis procedure is very straightforward and surfactants or other chemicals are not required, being very convenient for scaling up and practical utilization. The high activity of the catalyst prepared by nitrates calcination can be attributed to the better introduction of Nd cations into the parent ceria framework than on catalysts prepared by coprecipitation and microemulsion, which promotes the creation of more oxygen vacancies.

Acoustic Propagation over Periodic and Quasi-Period Rough Surfaces Proceedings

Numerical techniques such as the Boundary Element Method, Finite Element Method and Finite Difference Time Domain have been used widely to investigate plane and curved wave-front scattering by rough surfaces. For certain shapes of roughness elements (cylinders, semi-cylinders and ellipsoids) there are semi-analytical alternatives. Here, we present a theory for multiple scattering by cylinders on a hard surface to investigate effects due to different roughness shape, the effects of vacancies and variation of roughness element size on the excess attenuation due to a periodically rough surfaces.