Energizing Chemical Reactions and Process Intensification

One of the most important aspects of green chemistry is the enhancement of the speed and degree of completion of chemical reactions. One of the ways in which this is done is by lowering the activation energy required to enable a reaction to proceed. That is what catalysts do, as discussed in Section 14.11. The other way to enhance a reaction is by adding energy as discussed in this section. 

A reaction participant does not have to absorb a photon directly to undergo a photochemicaUy induced reaction. In some cases, photochemicaUy reactive species are added to a reaction mixture to absorb photons and then produce reactive excited species or free radicals that carry out additional reactions. An example of this is provided with hydrogen peroxide, which absorbs photons 

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