Reducing pollutant emission of vehicles and meeting stricter exhaust gas standards are major challenges when developing catalytic converters. A new concept might help to efficiently treat exhaust gases after the cold start of engines and in urban traffic and to reduce the consumption of expensive noble metal. It is based on the interaction between platinum and the cerium oxide carrier to control catalytic activity by short-term changes of the engine’s operation mode, researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie.