Active Sites in Catalysis: Catch Me If You Can!

Program Description:

The past years have witnessed the introduction of spectroscopic methods for the characterization of catalysts at work at previously unattainable resolution/ sensitivity. This has revealed that heterogeneous catalysts are more heterogeneous than often anticipated. Dynamic changes in the nature of active sites; their distribution and accessibility are found to occur at both the intra- and inter-particle level. Scientists have now the experimental tools at hand to “catch” catalysts in action in order to improve the understanding of catalyst heterogeneities and design improved catalysts. This lecture highlights the latest developments of this field of research, which acknowledges that catalysts behave almost like living objects.