Patent ID: 8841232

Claim:
A ceramic catalyst composition comprising: activated metal oxide comprising metal oxide particles of controlled diameters in a range from one nanometer to eight millimeters arranged in a crystal lattice, wherein the activated metal oxide has less than stoichiometric oxygen in the crystal lattice, the metal oxide particles having a plurality of oxygen vacancies in the crystal lattice, the crystal lattice configured to allow oxygen to migrate to a surface of the metal oxide by diffusing from one oxygen vacancy to another allowing the metal oxide to reduce and oxidize molecules on its surface, the diffusion rate of oxygen being directly related to the number of oxygen vacancies, the number of oxygen vacancies increasing as the diameter of the metal oxide particles decreases; and a catalyst support, the catalyst support being ceramic and made of a material having a very low coefficient of thermal expansion of 0.5 to 5 micrometer/m ° C. and a very low thermal conductivity of 0.01 to 5 W/m ° K at 800° C., the metal oxide being uniformly dispersed throughout the catalyst support.