Catalyst poisoning refers to the effect that a catalyst can be 'poisoned' if it reacts with another compound that bonds chemically to its active surface sites. This effectively reduces the usefulness of the catalyst. Poisoned sites can no longer accelerate the reaction with which the catalyst was supposed to catalyze. Large scale production of substances such as ammonia in the Haber-Bosch process include steps to remove potential poisons from the product stream.
Read more about Catalyst Poisoning: Examples, Catalyst Poisoning To Enhance Selectivity
Famous quotes containing the word poisoning:
“It is beyond a doubt that during the sixteenth century, and the years immediately preceding and following it, poisoning had been brought to a pitch of perfection which remains unknown to modern chemistry, but which is indisputably proved by history. Italy, the cradle of modern science, was at that time, the inventor and mistress of these secrets, many of which are lost.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)