Modern vehicles are fitted with catalytic converters in the exhaust system.
It corresponds to one of the melting-points in the series without catalytic agents, viz.
Oxygen may be prepared by heating mercuric oxide; by strongly heating manganese dioxide and many other peroxides; by heating the oxides of precious metals; and by heating many oxy-acids and oxy-salts to high temperatures, for example, nitric acid, sulphuric acid, nitre, lead nitrate, zinc sulphate, potassium chlorate, &c. Potassium chlorate is generally used and the reaction is accelerated and carried out at a lower temperature by previously mixing the salt with about one-third of its weight of manganese dioxide, which acts as a catalytic agent.
It is mixed with fresh air containing sufficient oxygen for the combustion of the hydrogen, and the mixture is passed through red-hot iron oxide (burnt pyrites) which by its catalytic action causes the reaction H2S+O= H 2 O+S to take place.
Its chemical properties are in general intermediate between those of chlorine and iodine; thus it requires the presence of a catalytic agent, or a fairly high temperature, to bring about its union with hydrogen.
