Iron-aluminium compound could replace palladium catalyst, reducing the cost of plastic production
(Phys.org) -- Chemists don't like precious metals at least not when they need the expensive materials as catalysts to accelerate reactions or guide them in a particular direction. And this is often the case, as in an important step in the production of polyethylene, a substance that makes plastic bags light, flexible and stable. However, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin have now developed a catalyst using iron and aluminium that works just as well as the conventional palladium catalyst, but costs much less. To identify the iron-aluminium alternative, the scientists first systematically ascertained what properties the material would need. They plan to use this same procedure to search for catalysts for other reactions in future.