Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down.
Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down. Now an entirely new class of porous catalysts has been invented, using unique fins to speed up the chemistry by allowing molecules to skip the lines that limit the reaction.
This discovery was published in Nature Materials, the leading journal of materials science.
The breakthrough focused on reducing barriers for molecules accessing the interior pores of catalysts, called zeolites – aluminosilicates with pores smaller than a nanometer. Zeolites are widely used in commercial processes as solid catalysts for the production of gasoline and value-added chemicals and other products.
In these applications, chemistry within the zeolite pores first requires molecules to find the small number of openings on the outside surface of catalyst particles. This creates a queue of molecules that must ”wait in line” to enter the particle, diffuse to the active site involved in the chemical reaction, and then exit the particle.
Read more at University Of Houston
Image: 3D finned zeolite catalysts enhance molecule access to the interior of the particle. CREDIT: J.C. Palmer
