Going Gold: Engineers to Investigate Using Gold as Catalyst in Hydrogenation
January 10, 2022 | 4 min read January 10, 2022 | 4 min readUNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Everyday items, like prescription drugs, gasoline and plastics, all undergo several rounds of catalytic processes during manufacturing. Industrial catalysis involves using a catalyst, a molecule or small piece of metal anchored to a solid matrix, to accelerate a chemical reaction while remaining unchanged. Scientists are continually looking for good catalysts that react with certain molecules but not others in order to reduce the energy needed to run the catalytic process.