Researchers from around the world can now compare the performance of their gold catalysts for a broad range of commercially important reactions, including oxidation and hydrogenation, thanks to the availability of universal standard reference catalysts made available by the World Gold Council.
Samples of gold reference catalysts are now available from the Council’s London headquarters after it commissioned the Japanese division of the chemical manufacturer Sud Chemie to produce the catalysts during 2002. Since then these have been characterised in the laboratories of the National Institute of Advances Industrial Science and Technology in Japan.
‘This initiative will support the development and commercialisation of gold catalyst technology in the same way that platinum and nickel standard reference catalysts have been employed since the 1970s,’ said Dr Christopher Corti, the Council’s Managing Director of International Technology. ‘We are now beginning to see gold used as a viable, commercial catalyst and the gold reference catalysts will accelerate this process.’ Gold-based catalysts are now starting to be used in the chemical processing industry and other future applications are expected within the pollution control and fuel cell industries.