Jointly published by React.Kinet.Catal.Lett. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest Vol. 90, No. 2, 381–387 (2007) and Springer, Dordrecht 10.1007/s11144-007-4938-2 0133-1736/2007/US$ 20.00. © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. All rights reserved. RKCL4938 TEMPLATED SYNTHESIS AND CATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF AN Rh/CERIA-ZIRCONIA CATALYST Jin An Wang a, * , Gabliela González 1 , Lifang Chen b , Miguel A. Valenzuela b , Maria Moran-Pineda c , Armando Vázquez c and Salvador Castillo c a Laboratorio de Catálisis y Materiales, ESIQIE, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Col. Zacatenco, 07738 México D.F., México b Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-A, Av. San Pablo 180, Col. Reynosa-Tamaulipas, 02200 México D.F., México c Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Programa de Ingeniería Molecular, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas No. 152, 07730 México D. F, México Received January 8, 2007, accepted January 22, 2007 Abstract Ceria-zirconia nanophase with structural defects and high thermal stability was synthesized by a surfactant-templated method. The 0.5 wt.% Rh/ceria-zirconia catalyst shows high activity for NO reduction by CO under an oxygen-rich condition, and the selectivity to 100% N 2 below 200°C was achieved. Keywords: Ceria-zirconia, surfactant-templated synthesis, NO reduction INTRODUCTION Nowadays, ceria-zirconia mixed oxides have been widely applied as catalyst support in the new generation of the automotive three-way catalyst (TWC) converter due to their high oxygen storage capacity and redox property [1,2]. ___________________________ * Corresponding author. Tel. (52) 55 57296000 ext. 55261; Fax. (52) 55 55862728 E-mail: wang_j_a@yahoo.com; jwang@ipn.mx