What are the Challenges in Measuring Catalytic Activity?
Despite its importance, measuring catalytic activity is fraught with challenges:
Reproducibility Achieving reproducible results can be difficult due to variations in experimental conditions, catalyst preparation, and measurement techniques.
Deactivation Catalysts can deactivate over time due to poisoning, fouling, or sintering, complicating the measurement of their true activity.
Complex Reactions In multi-step or complex reactions, isolating the activity of a single catalyst can be challenging. Advanced techniques like in-situ spectroscopy are often needed.
Mass Transport Limitations Diffusion limitations can affect the observed activity, especially in porous catalysts. Overcoming these limitations requires careful experimental design.
