Catalysis is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst. Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quickly, very small amounts of catalyst often suffice; mixing, surface area, and temperature are important factors in reaction rate. Catalysts generally react with one or more reactants to form intermediates that subsequently give the final reaction product, in the process of regenerating the catalyst.
Heterogeneous catalysis is catalysis where the phase of catalysts differs from that of the reagents or products. The process contrasts with homogeneous catalysis where the reagents, products and catalyst exist in the same phase. Phase distinguishes between not only solid, liquid, and gas components, but also immiscible mixtures, or anywhere an interface is present.
The water–gas shift reaction (WGSR) describes the reaction of carbon monoxide and water vapor to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen:
Cerium(IV) oxide, also known as ceric oxide, ceric dioxide, ceria, cerium oxide or cerium dioxide, is an oxide of the rare-earth metal cerium. It is a pale yellow-white powder with the chemical formula CeO2. It is an important commercial product and an intermediate in the purification of the element from the ores. The distinctive property of this material is its reversible conversion to a non-stoichiometric oxide.
Platinum nanoparticles are usually in the form of a suspension or colloid of nanoparticles of platinum in a fluid, usually water. A colloid is technically defined as a stable dispersion of particles in a fluid medium.
Reactive flash volatilization (RFV) is a chemical process that rapidly converts nonvolatile solids and liquids to volatile compounds by thermal decomposition for integration with catalytic chemistries.
Lanny D. Schmidt was an American chemist, inventor, author, and Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. He is well known for his extensive work in surface science, detailed chemistry (microkinetics), chemical reaction engineering, catalysis, and renewable energy. He is also well known for mentoring over a hundred graduate students and his work on millisecond reactors and reactive flash volatilization.
The first time a catalyst was used in the industry was in 1746 by J. Roebuck in the manufacture of lead chamber sulfuric acid. Since then catalysts have been in use in a large portion of the chemical industry. In the start only pure components were used as catalysts, but after the year 1900 multicomponent catalysts were studied and are now commonly used in the industry.
Kathleen C. Taylor is a chemist who won the Garvan–Olin Medal in 1989, and is notable for developing catalytic converters for cars.
Dan Luss is an American chemical engineer, who is the Cullen Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Houston. He is known for his work in chemical reaction engineering, complex reacting systems, multiple steady-states reactor design, dynamics of chemical reactors, and combustion.
Ceria-zirconia is a solid solution of cerium(IV) oxide (CeO2, also known as ceria) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2, also known as zirconia).
Moti Herskowitz is a professor of Chemical Engineering, the incumbent of the Israel Cohen Chair in Chemical Engineering and researcher in the fields of advanced materials, catalysis and multiphase reactors. He is the founder (1995) and director of the Blechner Center for Industrial Catalysis and Process Development.
The electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) effect in the realm of chemistry refers to the pronounced enhancement of catalytic reactions or significant changes in the catalytic properties of a conductive catalyst in the presence of electrical currents or interfacial potentials. Also known as Non-faradaic electrochemical modification of catalytic activity (the NEMCA effect), it can increase in catalytic activity (up to 90-fold) and selectivity of a gas exposed electrode on a solid electrolyte cell upon application of a potential. This phenomenon is well documented and has been observed on various surfaces (Ni, Au, Pt, Pd, IrO2, RuO2) supported by O2−, Na+ and proton conducting solid electrolytes.
Praseodymium(III,IV) oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Pr6O11 that is insoluble in water. It has a cubic fluorite structure. It is the most stable form of praseodymium oxide at ambient temperature and pressure.
Heterogeneous gold catalysis refers to the use of elemental gold as a heterogeneous catalyst. As in most heterogeneous catalysis, the metal is typically supported on metal oxide. Furthermore, as seen in other heterogeneous catalysts, activity increases with a decreasing diameter of supported gold clusters. Several industrially relevant processes are also observed such as H2 activation, Water-gas shift reaction, and hydrogenation. One or two gold-catalyzed reactions may have been commercialized.
Raymond John Gorte is an American chemical engineer, currently the Russel Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Endowed Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) and Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout his career at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Minnesota, he has advanced the study of fuel cells and catalysts including heterogeneous metals and zeolite materials. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.
Dionisios G. Vlachos is an American chemical engineer, the Allan & Myra Ferguson Endowed Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware and director of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, a U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Frontiers Research Center. Throughout his career at University of Delaware and the University of Minnesota, he has advanced the study of catalysts and reaction engineering including catalytic applications in biomass utilization, alkane conversion and zeolites. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient of the Wilhelm Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2011).
Manos Mavrikakis is a Greek–American chemical engineer. He is the Paul A. Elfers Professor and the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Mavrikakis is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Physical Society, and American Vacuum Society.
Alexis Tarassov Bell is an American chemical engineer. He is currently the Dow professor of Sustainable Chemistry in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in UC Berkeley's college of chemistry. He is also the Faculty Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is known for his work with heterogenous catalysts and characterizing the mechanisms of these reactions on a quantum level.
Professor Günther Rupprechter is a distinguished Austrian scientist, full professor and currently Head of the Institute of Materials Chemistry, Technische Universität Wien. He is renowned for his contributions to the fields of physical chemistry, surface science, nanoscience and nanotechnology, particularly in the area of catalytic surface reactions on heterogeneous catalysts, identifying fundamental reaction steps at the atomic level by in situ and operando spectroscopy and microscopy.
“Inaugural Haber Professorship Lecture” 