Dr. Michal Mazur and his colleagues from the Faculty of Science,
Charles University in Prague study catalysts that are based on metal
nanoparticles stabilized at zeolites. Recently, they have prepared a new
type of zeolitic catalyst. Their results have been published in the
journal Angewandte Chemie.

Many chemical processes,
such as oxidation, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, and reforming
reactions require the use of heterogeneous catalysts based on transition metals.
The price of some of these metals, such as rhodium or platinum, is
high; thus, the efficiency of their utilization is a key factor for
industrial use. One of the possible solutions is to prepare them in the
form of nanoparticles, which allows the exposure and effective use of a
larger fraction of metal atoms.

“This situation has many equivalents in regular life. Let’s say you
want to open a business based on selling coffee in Prague. It is much
better to open many small coffee shops in different parts of the city,
than only one big shop in the city center. This allows your business to
be more accessible to customers, thus efficient,” says Dr. Mazur in
describing his strategy.