Exhaust gas control apparatus for internal combustion engine

An exhaust gas control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, the exhaust gas control apparatus comprising:

• a selective catalytic reduction catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine, the selective catalytic reduction catalyst including transition metal ions for reducing NOX in exhaust gas with NH3 as a reducing agent;
• a heater configured to heat the selective catalytic reduction catalyst;
• and
• an electronic control unit configured to
• detect temperature of the selective catalytic reduction catalyst, and
• execute recovery processing when NOX does not flow into the selective catalytic reduction catalyst and the temperature of the selective catalytic reduction catalyst is below a first temperature that is a temperature causing exhibition of valence recovery of the transition metal ions, the recovery processing being processing of controlling the heater so as to heat the selective catalytic reduction catalyst up to the first temperature or above and to maintain the selective catalytic reduction catalyst at or above the first temperature for a prescribed period.