Chapter 8 NANOSCALE CATALYSIS BY GOLD

Recent work related to gold catalysis has been discussed addressing the important issue ofhow the nobleness of gold breaks down at nanometric sizes when in contact with oxidic supports. The high reactivity of gold catalysts in comparison to other metal catalysts is illustrated by reactions such as oxidation of CO and reduction ofNO under ambient conditions, as weil as epoxidation and hydrochlorination of unsaturated hydrocarbons. Investigations carried out on gold catalysts using a variety of spectroscopy and microscopy techniques are discussed along with the general mechanism of the catalytic process. The observation ofmaximum reactivity at a cluster size of2-3 nm, coincident with the size-induced metal to non-metal transition in gold forms the central theme of the article.