Phase II IUCRC at University of South Carolina: The Center for Rational Catalyst Synthesis

催化科学推动了称为催化剂的新型材料的创造，这些材料使化学转化发生，否则将是困难或不可能的。催化剂可能在汽车催化转化器中最为人所知，以减少汽车废气中的污染。催化剂用于生产各种具有社会重要性的产品，例如燃料、纺织品、塑料、食品和药品等。催化剂用于生产常见的化学品，如汽油，纺织品，塑料，食品和药品等。据估计，在化学工业中，催化剂占所有产品的95%以上（按体积计），占增加值的80%以上。世界上大约三分之一的经济直接或间接地依赖于催化剂。然而，尽管它们非常重要，但新催化剂的开发仍然主要通过试错来完成，因此耗时且昂贵。 催化研究的一个巨大挑战是催化结构的精确设计和可控合成。将催化剂合成从艺术转变为科学的发现将有助于提高非常广泛的工业基础的生产力、能源效率和经济影响，该工业基础涉及通过化学将原材料转化为成品。合理催化剂合成中心（CeRCaS）是世界上第一个也是唯一一个专注于了解催化剂合成化学基础的研究中心。 CeRCaS在南卡罗来纳州大学和弗吉尼亚联邦大学以及第二阶段提供了强大的互补专业知识。工业合作伙伴帮助开发、选择和指导的CeRCaS研究项目有三个重点。首先，金属沉积的基础，包括金属沉积机制的原位观察和纳米颗粒成因的各种方法;第二，固-固键合的热力学和动力学，使用理论和实验来预测金属氧化物在载体表面上的润湿或烧结，以及预测负载纳米颗粒的尺寸，形状和组成（在双金属的情况下）;第三，用于特定反应的精确位点合成，其中纳米颗粒将以特定的尺寸、含量（单金属或多金属）和形状合成，从而针对特定反应进行优化或使昂贵的贵金属成分的含量最小化。研究生将积极指导与实践的心态。教育推广将包括积极招聘和最终的工业安置的代表性不足的群体在科学和工程。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

The science of catalysis drives the creation of novel materials called catalysts that make chemical transformations occur that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. Catalysts are perhaps best known in automobile catalytic converters to reduce pollution in automobile exhaust. Catalysts are used to produce a wide variety of products of societal importance such as fuels, textiles, plastics, food and pharmaceutical products to name a few. Catalysts are used to produce common chemicals such as gasoline, textiles, plastics, food and pharmaceutical products to name a few. It has been estimated that catalysis accounts for over 95% (by volume) of all products and over 80% of added value in the chemical industry. About one third of the world’s economy depends directly or indirectly on catalysis. Yet in spite of their immense importance, the development of new catalysts is still largely done by trial-and-error, and is therefore time-consuming and expensive. A grand challenge of catalysis research is the precise design and controlled synthesis of catalytic structures. Discoveries which transform catalyst synthesis from an art to a science will serve to enhance the productivity, energy efficiency and economic impact of a very broad industry base that involves the conversion of raw materials into finished products through chemistry. The Center for Rational Catalyst Synthesis (CeRCaS) is the world’s first and only research center with the focus on understanding the chemical fundamentals of catalyst synthesis. CeRCaS brings to bear powerful, complementary expertise at the University of South Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth University, and in Phase II. CeRCaS research projects, which the industrial partners help develop, select and mentor, are in three thrusts. First, the Fundamentals of Metal Deposition including in-situ observation of metal deposition mechanisms and a variety of methods for nanoparticle genesis; second, Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Solid-Solid Bonding, using theory and experiment to allow prediction of the wetting or sintering of metal oxides on support surfaces, and prediction of the size, shape and, in the case of bimetallics, composition of supported nanoparticles; and third, Precision Site Synthesis for Specific Reactions, in which nanoparticles will be synthesized with specific size, content (single or multi-metals) and shape and so be optimized for particular reactions or to minimize the content of expensive precious metal ingredients. Graduate students will be actively mentored with a practical mindset. Educational outreach will include the active recruitment and eventual industrial placement of underrepresented groups in science and engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.