New technology can increase chemical reaction catalysis speed by 10,000 times

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, May 29th (Reporter Liu Xia) According to a report by the physicist organization network on the 28th, American researchers have discovered a new technology that can increase the catalysis speed of chemical reactions to 10,000 times the existing catalysis speed limit. It is expected to greatly increase the speed of thousands of chemical processes and significantly reduce costs, benefiting the fertilizer, food, fuel, plastic and other industries.

 

Scientists use catalysts (such as metals) to accelerate chemical reactions, but the rate of catalysis can only reach the limit allowed by the Sabatier principle. Since this criterion was established quantitatively in 1960, Sabatier maximum has been the limit of catalytic speed.

 

Researchers at the Center for Catalytic Energy Innovation, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, have found that they can break this speed limit by applying waves to the catalyst to create an oscillating catalyst. Waves have crests and troughs, and when applied, the wave allows the two parts of the chemical reaction to proceed independently at different speeds. When the wave applied to the catalyst surface matches the natural frequency of the chemical reaction, the so-called "resonance" mechanism causes the catalytic rate to rise significantly.

 

One of the authors, Paul Dornhauer, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Minnesota, said: "We realized early on that catalysts need to change over time, and it turns out that frequencies from kilohertz to megahertz significantly accelerate catalysis. speed."

 

Researchers say that increasing the speed of chemical reactions will greatly benefit the development of thousands of chemical and material technologies for fertilizers, foods, fuels, plastics, etc., which can significantly reduce the number of equipment needed to make these materials and reduce the overall cost of many daily materials .

 

"This has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost all the most basic chemicals, materials and fuels. The shift from conventional catalysts to dynamic catalysts will The transition to alternating current is as great. "

 

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