Salts & Solutions for the Automotive Industry

Precious Metals for Automotive Catalysts

Automotive vehicles are an integral part of our everyday life. To minimize their impact on the environment – especially air quality –, precious metal based emission catalysts are deployed in internal combustion engine cars. Burning gasoline or other fuel in the combustion engine creates harmful compounds like nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and other pollutants. The excellent catalytic activity of precious metals – especially Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium – is key to converting these harmful substances into less harmful compounds.

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Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium Salts for the Automotive Industry

Heraeus Precious Metals is offering precious metals and respective precursors needed to produce emission catalysts. Due to the unique positioning as a precious metal and precursor supplier, Heraeus is not competing with customers in the automotive emission catalyst value chain like other competitors in the market. Heraeus can offer all relevant Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium precursors used in the automotive emission catalyst industry.

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Worldwide at Your Service

Worldwide at your service

Heraeus Precious Metals is at your service anywhere anytime. Customers benefit from Heraeus’ global footprint of production, trading & recycling locations. Next to the main markets in China, Europe and USA, Heraeus is also able to supply customers locally in India and South Africa.

Heraeus BASF Joint Venture

Recycling

After usage, the emission catalysts are collected and recycled to recover valuable precious metals. Recycling of used precious metal products provides an economic as well as environmental value because the carbon footprint of recycled precious metals is approximately 90% lower compared to precious metals from mines. As a market leader in precious metal recycling and circular solutions, Heraeus is involved in the recycling of automotive catalysts as well. One recent example is the  joint venture with BASF in China to recover precious metals from spent automotive catalysts.

PEM Fuel Cells

Looking Ahead

The automotive industry is currently changing rapidly. The combustion of fossil fuels continuously pollutes the environment and is one of the major contributors to CO2 emissions. To achieve the goal of a zero-emission society in the future, there is the need to switch to an alternative source of energy. One option might be the use of fuel based on renewable feedstock or even carbon dioxide (e-fuels, synfuels, …). The major trend, however, is the electrification of the powertrain. Next to battery electric vehicles also hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are an option for the future – especially for heavy duty trucks. Heraeus is well positioned to provide new solutions for the future with a broad portfolio of  high quality electrocatalysts for fuel cells and green hydrogen production .

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