Issue 2, 2012

Mimicking nature's strategies for the design of nanocatalysts

Abstract

Recent developments in bionanotechnology have produced a knowledge pool that enables the fabrication, functionalization, and activation of inorganic nanostructures. Continued progress in this field has led to advances in inorganic nanomaterial control, providing for the generation of catalysts that operate under biologically influenced conditions of temperature, pressure, and solvent. Outlined in this Perspective are a selection of catalysts active for a variety of reactions including C–C coupling, chemical reduction, electrocatalysis, and bond cleavage reactions, where a combination of both the inorganic core and biological surface work in concert to achieve the final functionality. By fully understanding the total structure/function relationship of these bio-inspired nanomaterials, new catalytic structures could be designed using biological principles that are energy neutral, eco-friendly, and selective, all of which represent grand challenges in light of the current global condition.

Graphical abstract: Mimicking nature's strategies for the design of nanocatalysts

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
31 Aug 2011
Accepted
11 Oct 2011
First published
31 Oct 2011

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 256-266

Mimicking nature's strategies for the design of nanocatalysts

R. Bhandari, R. Coppage and M. R. Knecht, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 256 DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00350J

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