What makes something a catalyst

Platinum works well in fuel cells because it interacts just the right amount with each starting gas. In effect, it pulls them close together so that it encourages — speeds along — their reaction. Then it lets its handiwork float free.

For years, other technologies have relied on platinum catalysts, too. To remove harmful pollutants from exhaust gases, for instance, cars now rely on catalytic converters.

But platinum has some downsides. People like to use it in fancy jewelry. Some other catalysts have risen to superstar status. Among them are palladium and iridium. Like platinum, however, both are expensive and hard to get. Some scientists think that carbon molecules might work.

What is the pronunciation of catalyst? Browse cataloguing. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day sweetheart. Blog Outsets and onsets! Read More. November 08, To top. English American Business Examples Translations. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge. Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes.

Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans. Catalysts are extremely important parts of many chemical reactions. Chemical companies constantly search for new and better catalysts to make reactions go faster and thus make the company more profitable.

Skip to main content. Search for:. Catalysts Learning Objectives Define catalyst. Explain how catalysts influence the rate of a chemical reaction. Where did the sun go? Summary The function of a catalyst is described. What do enzymes do for the blue jeans? But scientists are already searching for the next revolution in batteries—one that could someday make a battery light and powerful enough to take a car miles at a go.

A promising idea is lithium- air batteries, which use oxygen from the air as a primary component. But this new battery will require totally revamping the internal chemistry, and it will need a powerful new catalyst to make it work. A lithium-air battery works by combining lithium and oxygen atoms and then breaking them apart, over and over. That is a situation tailor-made for a catalyst, and a good one would make the reaction faster and make the battery more efficient.

Understanding the chemistry behind reactions is the first step; then scientists can use modeling to design potential new catalysts and have them tested in the lab. But that first step is difficult unless you can get down to the atomic level to see what is happening during a reaction. Curtiss and the team have used both of these in their search for better catalysts. By Louise Lerner. Catalysts are one of those things that few people think much about, beyond perhaps in high school chemistry, but they make the world tick.

Catalysts are all around us.