Defects on the surface of catalysts determine their activity
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

Many technical processes, including chemical production, exhaust gas purification and the chemical storage of solar energy would not be possible without catalysts. In the chemical industry, the vast majority of products produced come into contact with at least one heterogeneous catalyst. Such catalysts are solid substances on whose surfaces gaseous substances adsorb and react. The catalyst enables or accelerates their reaction to produce the product without changing itself. In this process, there are still many unanswered questions, such as where on the catalyst the process actually takes place. Chemical scientists around Professor Joost Wintterlin of the Department of Chemistry at LMU show that steps on the catalyst surface play a crucial role. They report about their results in the journal Nature Catalysis.