The Phenomena of Proton Transfer from Catalytic Oxides

Chemical processes that occur at the particle aqueous interface are properly termed colloidal when the particle is a material where one or more of its three dimensions lies within the range of 1-1000 nm. Nanoparticles which include porous materials and nanostructures that meet this requirement have been the subject of investigation from researchers from a variety of disciplines and their studies have been reported in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science as well as other archival journals for many years. The chemical process of charge development on colloidal particles is, in general, determined by a plethora of complex physico-chemical properties of the particles' surfaces exposed to the surrounding aqueous environment. The existence of surface charge plays an essential role in the dispersity, flocculation properties, ion exchange capacity, dissolution, and deposition of cations and anions of synthetic and natural materials. In particular, recent advances in catalytic science have demonstrated that the "black art" of catalyst preparation does have a scientific basis. The objective of this article is to demonstrate that surface charge development (a consequence of proton transfer) as a function of pH, the so-called master variable, can identify specific domains of charge maxima. It is found that the number and strength of charged sites can be correlated with the catalytic properties of the studied materials, even though the reaction conditions are significantly different from those under which the surface charge was measured. Such findings are essential for the establishment of design and construction protocols and prediction of the performance of catalysts. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.