Mass Spectrometry

Advances in the catalysis and adsorption technologies

The empirical art has consistently advanced the science, which is a defining feature of catalytic development. The first formulations of catalytic activity were preceded by the fermentation processes used to make wine and vinegar, soap, and ether. When a research scientist's creativity resulted in useful applications, the theory of catalysis has often been more successful. Theoretical research into basic concepts has accelerated the rate of technical advancement. Through experimental study, the process of chemisorption was generalized to a wide range of catalytic materials, starting with metals and progressing to compounds like oxides, sulphides, and halides. It was discovered that the chemistry of interaction at surfaces is significantly different from the chemistry of typical molecular compound synthesis. The duality of adsorption suggested by earlier experimental results, the re - designed for van der Waals adsorption, and the transition to chemical binding with activation energy dependent on the intersection of the potential energy curves corresponding to the two types of adsorption were all revealed by theoretical studies by Eyring and Lennard Jones.