The catalysis society of Japan

Deep oxidation of Formaldehyde Contained in Exhaust Gases from Methanol Internal Combustion Engines An article in the Chin. J. Natural Gas Chem. Ind., 8(1993)20, by Jinan Wang and Ren Wang of the East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, describes the effects of various catalysts on the deep oxidation of formaldehyde. The catalyst components were supported on v-alumina by Impregnation. The reactant gas contained 0.18% formaldehyde, 0.05% methanol, 0.01% dimethyl ether, 0.02% formic ether and 4.2% oxygen The reaction was carried out under the following conditions: 0.5 g catalyst, GHSV=12,099 h-l and T=199-8fXX. The results indicate that for single-component non-noble metal oxide catalysts the activii order was CuO>CoO>MnO. The activities of the noble metal catalysts were higher than those of the non-noble metal oxide catalysts, with AgO>PdO. The bicomponent catalysts, Cu-Mn-0, Cu-Co0 and Pd-Ag, were more active than the single component catalysts. Among these, a Pd-Ag/y-AC03 catalyst was the best. As reaction temperatures to give 89% and 95% conversion were 110°C and 189”c, respectively. The activity of the Cu-Mn-0 and Cu-Co-0 partners was increased by the addition of Ag. The addition of 5% Ce and Pd to Cu-Ag-Mn-0 increased its activii further. DING-ZHU WANG The Catalysis Society of Japan

koto Misono (University of Tokyo); VicePresidents, Yoshio Ono (Tokyo Institute of Technology) and Akinobu Shiga (Sumitomo Chemical company); Secretary, Akira Morikawa (Tokyo Institute of Technology); Treasurer, Takashi Tatsumi (University of Tokyo); Directors (district representatives): Hideshi Hattori (Hokkaido University); Tatsuaki Yashima (Tokyo Institute ofTechnology); Tomoyuki lnui (Kyoto University); Directors: H. Arai, Y. Asami, T. Hattori, N. Kawada, H. Kojima, S. Komiya, N. Takezawa with N. Hara as managing director. M. MISONO A Lanthanide Lanthology Pan 1 of this collection, covering entries from A to L, has been published by Moiycarp, Inc., White Plains, NY, USA. Written by Barry T. Kilbourn, this convenient booklet is laid out as a collection of notes, alphabetically ordered, of differing length and detail, as a selection oftopics covering the sources, production, nature and uses of lanthanide elements. Browsing through the slim volume, one finds many facts of interest and a very useful series of references on many different aspects of the lanthanide elements and the compounds of those elements. When the second part becomes available, the complete anthology will be a very valuable reference tool for anyone who uses any of the lanthanides in their work. JUUAN ROSS

The following are the new members of the Executive (Board of Directors) of the Catalysis Society of Japan: President, Maapplied catalysis A: General

Volume 112 No. 2-28

May 1994