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Catalysts revealed their molecular-scale secrets

Solid catalysts, often in nanoparticle form, drive the overwhelming majority of industry’s major chemical processes. Yet many molecular subtleties of these reactions remain unknown, challenging scientists’ ability to improve these catalytic transformations. In 2018, researchers designed new nanocatalysts and uncovered mechanistic details about the way they mediate reactions. The findings may help reduce the energy use and cost of some large-scale industrial processes. At Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, for example, a group led by Dmitry E. Doronkin devised an X-ray spectroscopy–based method that tracked structural changes in palladium nanocatalysts as they converted hydrogen and oxygen to hydrogen peroxide. Manufacturers produce nearly 5 million metric tons of H2O2 annually, mainly from anthraquinone via an energy-intensive, multistep process. Making the commodity—a commercial bleach, disinfectant, and oxidizer—directly from hydrogen and oxygen gases could save energy. But because of thermodynamics, th...