Abstract:
Catalysts are vital to our existence. Without them, most products that we use like
medicines, polymers, perfumes, fabrics, lubricants, etc. would not be available to us.
Catalysts are materials that make a chemical reaction more favorable to proceed by providing
an alternative pathway with a lower activation barrier. Any advances in producing
new or improved catalysts represent signi cant progress, both intellectually and economically.
A few of the desired properties in an improved catalyst are a longer lifetime, being
cheaper, and/or being more e ective (by lowering the activation barriers further) than existing
catalysts. When making any improvement in these catalysts, one should also keep
in mind environmental demands, and always try to replace a polluting chemical reaction
with an environmentally friendly alternative.
