Electrochemical promotion of environmentally important catalytic reactions

Abstract

The performance of conventional heterogeneous metal catalysts may be enhanced by the addition of so-called promoter species that are used to modify the intrinsic metal surface chemistry with respect to activity and/or selectivity. Electrochemical methods provide an alternative, radically different and uniquely efficacious method of catalyst promotion. Substantial and reversible changes in catalyst perfomance can be induced by back-spillover ions pumped from a solid electrolyte to the surface of a catalytically active electrode: one hasin situ control of the working catalyst.