Designing process-specific catalysts for cleaner, more efficient processes

摘要

How and why size matters has been the aim of reseatch in catalysis for decades. The size and shape of metal nanoparticles and clusters determine their performance when used as catalysts in chemical processes. Controlling size and location of metal particles may also benefit the aspects of "green catalysis" which requires that environmentally friendly catalysts be designed with very high efficiency and selectivity towards the desired products thus also eliminating wastes In this paper we tun over three case studies to understand better how catalysts work at the nanoscale: Silver nanoparticles for cleaner, more efficient production of propylene oxide; Pt-Ru nanoparticle catalysts for more efficient fuel-cell vehicles; and proximity location of Pt and Ba for improving the performance of NOx storage-reduction catalysts for purification of exhaust gases from lean burn and diesel engines.