SDC Signs Deal to Commercialize Catalyst Technology in China

Arizona-based SDCmaterials Inc. has reached an agreement with Chinese largest catalytic converter supplier, Wuxi Weifu Lida, to commercialize SDC’s high-performance catalysts.

SDCmaterials will work with Wuxi’s partners will incorporate SDC’s “Nano-on-Nano” catalysts in converters supplied to carmakers in China. SDC says its formulation reduces the amount of platinum-palladium precious metals required in traditional catalysts by as much as 60%.

SAIC General Motors is likely to become one of the venture’s first customers. GM is an investor in SDC through its GM Ventures LLC, a six-year-old company that finances emerging tech innovators.

The SDC catalyst combines nano-sized particles of catalytic material with nano-oxide support particles. The result is an architecture that enhances durability by inhibiting the migration and clumping of catalytic particles that gradually erodes the performance of conventional catalytic converters, according to the company.