Heterogeneous Catalysis from Black Art to Atomic Understanding

Heterogeneous Catalysis from Black Art to Atomic Understanding 

A series of observations in which the presence of an apparently unaffected substance initiated the progress of a chemical reaction prompted the Swedish chemist Berzelius in 1835 to introduce the term catalyst , but it was only towards the end of the last century that a dear definition could be given by Ostwald, namely a catalyst is a substance which affects the rate of a chemical reaction without appearing in the final products . This is achieved through the formation of intermediate compounds between the catalyst and the molecules involved in the reaction whereby an alternative path is offered which may be passed through with higher probability, i.e. 

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Heterogeneous Catalysis from "Black Art to Atomic Understanding... 

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