Importance of the Electric Properties of Supports in the Carrier Effect

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Abstract
It has long been recognized in heterogeneous catalysis that the efficiency of the catalyst can be markedly increased when supported by certain solids of large surface. Although this observation has been applied very fruitfully in the preparation of catalysts with technical importance, the reason for the carrier effect is still not fully understood. In earlier investigations the effect of support was explained mainly by saying that it stabilizes the state of the active component or that it increases the degree of dispersion and the surface area of the catalyst. There were, however, some observations stating that, besides the above-mentioned factors, there is a chemical interaction between the catalyst and the support which may also play an important role in producing the carrier effect. Therefore Adadurov and co-workers [1] have pointed out that, depending on its atomic radius and valence, the carrier polarizes the molecules of the catalyst, thus considerably altering the properties of the latter. Naturally, this interaction mainly involves those particles of the catalyst which have contact with the support.