What is a chemical catalyst and how might gold be used as one?

A catalyst is a substance that is added to a chemical process to speed up the rate at which the process occurs. Metal catalysts are used extensively by industry to make chemical plants more efficient. For a number of years gold has been used as a catalyst in the large-scale production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM).

This is an important industrial chemical used as a feedstock for paints and adhesives. Applications for gold catalysts are now being developed in a number of new areas including other chemical manufacturing processes, air cleaning (eg removal of smells and poisonous carbon monoxide from indoor environments) and for controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired power stations.

The reason that gold is interesting as a catalyst is that it generally allows the chemical process to take place at lower temperatures, thereby reducing energy costs.

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