Salts & Solutions for Heterogeneous Catalysts

Gold mainly serves as a co-catalyst for some large-scale processes, e.g. to manufacture vinyl acetate monomer (“VAM”) with palladium. On top, gold could play an important role in catalyzing reactions based on bio-based or renewable feedstock and thus contributes to the energy transition.

Iridium is used as a component in alloys with the other platinum group metals, in particular with platinum itself. It makes alloys stronger and imparts greater corrosion resistance. A specific application of iridium catalysts is the decomposition of hydrazine (N2H4) into the gaseous elements nitrogen and hydrogen to control satellites.

Palladium is an established catalyst metal to manufacture a lot of chemical commodities, e.g. vinyl acetate monomer (“VAM”), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl iso-butyl ketone (“MIBK”), and highly purified terephthalic acid (“PpTA”). In addition, Palladium plays a decisive part in selective hydrogenations of by-products from petrochemical naphtha pyrolysis (dienes to monoenes, and alkynes to alkenes). Corresponding to its quantity, Palladium is probably the most important precious metal to the hydrogenation processes in chemistry. To purify gases (e.g. to remove oxygen), Palladium is applied, too.

Platinum is widely used in petrochemistry for the so-called reforming (“Platforming”). Also, several petrochemical isomerization and cracking processes, as well as certain oxidation reactions run on supported platinum catalysts, too. The reverse reactions are also feasible, e.g. the reduction of benzene to cyclohexane. Platinum is also catalytically active to hydrogenations in synthetic chemistry for the reduction of functional groups – e.g. C=C’s, C=O’s, C=N’s – without hydrogenolysis, and of aromatic nitro compounds to aniline derivatives. A specific example is the reductive synthesis of hydroxylamine (NH2OH) from NO with a Pt catalyst. Furthermore, to "Gas to Liquid" catalysts platinum can be applied as co-catalyst as well as platinum catalysts serve to remove impurities from gases (e.g. carbon monoxide, CO, from hydrogen).

Rhenium possesses valuable catalytic properties, and is particularly resistant to poisoning from nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus. Today it represents a common co-metal for supported catalysts on a large scale, e.g. to platinum in petrochemical reforming, and to silver for the manufacture of ethylene oxide.

Rhodium is used for hydrogenation catalysts, e.g. to produce cyclohexane derivatives from alkyl benzenes, or to reduce C=O’s to alcohols.

Ruthenium is of great importance to large-scale syntheses, e.g. to the hydrogenation of C=O groups and aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. benzene to cyclohexene). Potential new applications of Ruthenium catalysts are for example a decentralized ammonia production or also ammonia cracking which could both play important role within the energy transition (Ammonia as energy carrier). Furthermore, Ruthenium is of interest for the manufacturing of “Gas to Liquid” catalysts as a co-catalys.

Silver is applied on a very large scale to the oxidation of ethene to ethylene oxide (“EO”) with atmospheric oxygen.