Researchers have recently discovered a new phenomenon that affects how catalysts are used in chemical reactions. Known as the “disentanglement-activity-selectivity tradeoff effect”, this concept reveals how increasing the selectivity of a catalyst can lead to a decrease in its activity. This new finding could help scientists to better understand and optimize catalysts for a variety of chemical processes.

The disentanglement-activity-selectivity tradeoff effect is based on the idea that a catalyst must be “disentangled” from the reaction environment in order to increase its selectivity. By making the catalyst more active, it can better discriminate between reactants. However, this increased selectivity comes with a decrease in activity.

This phenomenon was discovered by researchers at the University of Cambridge in their recent study, which was published in the journal Science. Through their experiments, the researchers showed that by increasing the selectivity of the catalyst, they were able to reduce the speed of the reaction.

This new concept could help to improve the efficiency of many chemical processes, as scientists can now more easily optimize the selectivity and activity of catalysts. With further research, this new knowledge could lead to more efficient processes and products.

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source: Phys.org