About this Zone
Catalysts are coffee for chemical reactions: you either get more done, or you do the same things faster! Only, sadly unlike coffee, catalysts don’t get used up in the process (immortal coffee?!). This process is called catalysis.
Lots of holes in the structure of this catalyst gives it a huge surface area, meaning more reactions can take place | Image: Thomas Splettstoesser
By lowering the energy a reaction needs, catalysts make it easier for useful products to be created and speeds up how fast they’re made. This makes substances that act as catalysts very important to industrial production of materials we use in the modern world. You’ll even find one, platinum, on the back of every car in its catalytic converter.
In this zone you will meet a scientist who is creating molecules that no-one has ever made before, one who is using catalysts to find ways to use less fossil fuels and one who makes intermediates for drugs used to treat things like eye disease and pain relief. There is a scientist who is discovering new molecules and making catalysts to help others create new things, and someone who is trying to make medicine from a bacteria that can be found in compost heaps!