Nanocatalysts

Till now, we have mentioned coordination complexes, organometallic catalysts, and other surface catalysts. However, we have not mentioned nanomaterial based catalysts. The most obvious advantages to these catalysts is the fact that since they are so small, with order of magnitude of 9 billionths of a meter, that their surface area is very large. More surface area means more contact, so the catalysts works much more efficiently. There are many applications, and a few will be explored here.

For example, a ruthenium nano-catalysts is used for the hydrogenolysis of C-Cl bonds, which means the cleaving of the bond with the addition of hydrogen. The hydrogenolysis of halogenated (like a Cl atom) aromatic amines (benzene like rings with amine functional group) is used for the production of pesticides, herbicides and diesel fuels.

Other examples include reactions such as hydrosilyation, or as mentioned on our twitter, reactions such as the Suzuki Coupling Reaction.

Another cool fact is that research is being done on nano-particle supporters. That is, using nano particles as a base to put other nanocatalysts. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are examples of these supporters. The reason for this is that the high surface area of the CNTs provide for great support, and once the catalyst is on it, it can be better controlled. For example, if you want to disperse the catalyst a certain way, it can be attached to the CNTs and then dispersed in whatever way you want. This is a very interesting topic and more info can be found here.

That's it for us, hope y'all liked our post.