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Title: Forwarding Molecular Design of Heterogeneous Catalysts

Journal Article · · ACS Central Science
ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Department of Chemistry and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States

Catalysis research has long been divided between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. In homogeneous catalysis, reactivity arises from molecular catalysts in a homogeneous solution, while in heterogeneous catalysis reactivity comes from sites on a surface. The main advantage of homogeneous catalysis is the ability to design reaction sites within molecularly defined catalysts in order to achieve high catalytic activity, measured in the number of product molecules evolved per site per second (turnover frequency, TOF). However, homogeneous catalysis suffers from degradation of the molecular catalysts during the reaction, leading to a low number of total product molecules evolved (turnover number, TON). In comparison, heterogeneous catalysis has incredibly high TONs - so much so that discrete TONs are often impractical to report. Here a new, promising area of research is intended to combine the benefits of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis by tethering the molecular catalyst onto a solid surface to achieve tunability, high TOFs, and high TONs.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
FOA-0001664; AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1465884
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1474838
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5900-72485
Journal Information:
ACS Central Science, Journal Name: ACS Central Science Vol. 4 Journal Issue: 9; ISSN 2374-7943
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 1 work
Citation information provided by
Web of Science