General Trends in Surface Chemical Reactivity of Ceramic Catalysts

Transition metal ceramic catalysts are promising replacements for noble metals.  However, a systematic understanding of how the surface chemical reactivity changes as the composition changes is still lacking.  In this presentation, we will discuss the currently understood trends in basic surface chemical reactivity towards several catalytically relavent chemical probe reactions.  Specifically, the effect of orbital overlap, orbital filling, difference in electronegativity, and element polarizability on the overall surface chemical reactivity of ceramics will be highlighted.  The distinction between covalent and ionic like surface reactions is necessary when dealing with ceramic catalytic materials, and the effect of the aforementioned properties on these individual types of reaction steps will also be a focus of the talk.  Aside from the fundamentals of surface reactivity, we will highlight the use and optimization of ceramic catalysts for biomass deoxygenation, photocatalytic CO2 reduction and H2O splitting, saturated hydrocarbon functionalization, and non-noble metal oxygen-reduction reaction catalysts.