Activated ignition promoters for metal catalyzed reactions

A process for preparing one or more catalyst ignition promoters comprising the step of treating one or more sections of a gauze catalyst selected from the group consisting of:

• a used catalyst, a contaminated catalyst, a damaged catalyst, and combinations thereof, and comprising one or more metals selected from the group consisting of nickel, platinum, palladium, cobalt, rhodium, silver, gold, copper, iridium, rhenium, cerium, alloys thereof, binary alloys thereof, ternary alloys thereof, intermetallics thereof, and combinations thereof, with one or more chemical treatments or a combination of one or more chemical and physical treatments;
• wherein each section of the catalyst is coated with a metal coating comprising between 0.01 and 1 percent by weight of a metal coating, based on the weight of the catalyst, of one or more metals selected from the group consisting of nickel, platinum, palladium, cobalt, rhodium, silver, gold, copper, iridium, rhenium, cerium, alloys thereof, binary alloys thereof, ternary alloys thereof, intermetallics thereof, and combinations thereof.