The exhaust gas purification catalyst device includes an upper layer which includes first carrier particles and rhodium, and a lower layer which includes second carrier particles, and the upper layer includes a rhodium enriched area in the range a, from the upstream end in the exhaust gas flow to 50% of the upper layer length, and a range b from the upper layer top surface to 18 μm in the depth direction. The rhodium enriched area contains at least 50% and less than 100% of all the rhodium in the upper layer.

There is provided an exhaust gas purification device that shows a high HC removal performance under a condition in which a rich air-fuel mixture is introduced. The exhaust gas purification device includes a substrate, a first catalyst layer, and a second catalyst layer. The substrate includes an upstream end and a downstream end. The first catalyst layer is disposed on a surface of the partition wall in an upstream region including the upstream end of the substrate. The second catalyst layer is disposed inside the partition wall in a downstream region including the downstream end of the substrate. The first catalyst layer contains a first metal catalyst and alumina-zirconia composite oxide. The second catalyst layer contains a second metal catalyst.

The exhaust gas purification device includes a substrate, a first catalyst layer, and a second catalyst layer. The substrate includes an upstream end, a downstream end, and a porous partition wall defining a plurality of cells extending between the upstream end and the downstream end. The plurality of cells include an inlet cell opening at the upstream end and sealed at the downstream end, and an outlet cell adjacent to the inlet cell sealed at the upstream end and opening at the downstream end. The first catalyst layer is disposed on a surface of the partition wall in an upstream region. In a downstream region, the second catalyst layer is disposed inside the partition wall, and a second catalyst-containing wall including the partition wall and the second catalyst layer has a porosity of 35% or more.

The present invention provides an exhaust gas purification catalyst including an alkaline earth metal supported in a highly dispersed state on a porous carrier. A catalyst layer of the exhaust gas purification catalyst provided by the invention has an alkaline earth metal-supporting region including a porous carrier, a catalyst metal belonging to the platinum group, and a sulfate of at least one type of alkali earth metal supported on the porous carrier. In a cross-section of this region, a Pearson correlation coefficient R.sub.Ae/M is at least 0.5 as calculated using α and β for each pixel obtained by carrying out area analysis by FE-EPMA under conditions of pixel size of 0.34 μm×0.34 μm, and measured pixel number 256×256, and by measuring the characteristic X-ray intensity (α:cps) of the alkaline earth metal element (Ae) and the characteristic X-ray intensity (β:cps) of the main constituent element of the inorganic compound constituting the porous carrier for each pixel.

A cerium-zirconium-aluminum-based composite material, a cGPF catalyst and a preparation method thereof are provided. The cerium-zirconium-aluminum-based composite material adopts a stepwise precipitation method, firstly preparing an aluminum-based pre-treated material, then coprecipitating the aluminum-based pre-treated material with zirconium and cerium sol, and finally roasting at high temperature to obtain the cerium-zirconium-aluminum-based composite material. The cerium-zirconium-aluminum-based composite material has better compactness and higher density, and when it is used in cGPF catalyst, it occupies a smaller volume of pores on the catalyst carrier, such that cGPF catalyst has lower back pressure and better ash accumulation resistance, which is beneficial to large-scale application of cGPF catalyst.

The present invention provides an exhaust gas purification catalyst including a base material and a catalyst layer 20 that is arranged on the base material. The catalyst layer 20 includes a catalyst metal and a carrying material carrying the catalyst metal. The catalyst layer 20 satisfies below: (1) in a pore distribution curve measured by a mercury porosimeter, a peak for the largest pore volume exists within a range of a pore diameter equal to or more than 1 μm and not more than 10 μm; and (2) on an electron microscopy observation image (with a 1000-fold magnification) of a surface of the catalyst layer 20, when areas of a plurality of voids comprised in the electron microscopy observation image are respectively calculated, a standard deviation for the areas of the plurality of voids is not more than 30 μm.sup.2.

An automotive catalytic converter includes a three-way catalyst having Rh as the only precious metal configured as a front zone and a three-way catalyst having a mixture of Rh and Pd, Pt, or both configured as a rear zone, such that an exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine passes through the front zone before passing through the rear zone to minimize sulfur poisoning of the catalytic converter.

A passive NO.sub.x adsorber is disclosed. The passive NO.sub.x adsorber is effective to adsorb NO.sub.x at or below a low temperature and release the adsorbed NO.sub.x at temperatures above the low temperature. The passive NO.sub.x adsorber comprises a noble metal and a molecular sieve having an LTL Framework Type. The invention also includes an exhaust system comprising the passive NO.sub.x adsorber, and a method for treating exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine utilizing the passive NO.sub.x adsorber.

A method of manufacturing a catalyst intermediate is provided. The method comprises: providing a slurry comprising a hydrous oxide of one or more of aluminium, cerium and zirconium; and contacting the slurry comprising a hydrous oxide with platinum group metal (PGM) ions to provide a PGM-containing slurry.

The technology herein disclosed provides a wall flow type exhaust gas purifying catalyst capable of establishing the compatibility between the noxious gas purifying performance and the pressure loss suppressing performance at a high level. The exhaust gas purifying catalyst herein disclosed includes a base material 11 and a catalyst layer 20. Then, a first catalyst region 22 including the catalyst layer 20 formed therein is provided on an entry side surface 16a of a partition wall 16 of the base material 11. A second catalyst region 24 including the catalyst layer 20 formed on a wall surface 18a of a pore 18 is provided in a prescribed region from an exit side surface 16b of the partition wall toward an entry side cell 12. Further, a catalyst unformed region 30 in which a catalyst layer is substantially not formed is provided between the first catalyst region 22 and the second catalyst region 24 in the thickness direction Y of the partition wall 16. As a result of this, it is possible to prevent the deposition of PMs in the second catalyst region 24 including the catalyst layer 20 formed in the pore 18, and to establish the compatibility between the noxious gas purifying performance and the pressure loss suppressing performance at a high level.