CIE A Level Chemistry: 26.2 Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysts (AL)

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26.2 Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysts (AL)

Contents
Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysts
Page 1 of 8
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Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysts

Your notes
Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysis
Catalysts increase the rate of reaction by providing an alternative pathway which has a lower
activation energy
Catalysts can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous
Homogeneous catalysts
Homogeneous catalysts are those that are in the same phase as the reaction mixture
For example, in the esterification of ethanoic acid (CH3COOH) with ethanol (CH3CH2OH) to form ethyl
ethanoate (CH3COOCH2CH3) under acidic conditions:
H + ( aq )
CH3COOH (aq) + CH3OH (aq) ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ CH3COOC2H5 (aq) + H2O (l)
The H+ is a homogeneous catalyst and like the reactants and product it is in the aqueous phase
Heterogeneous catalysts
Heterogeneous catalysts are those that are in a different phase to the rest of the reaction mixture
For example, in the Born-Haber process to form ammonia (NH3) from nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2)
an iron (Fe) catalyst is used:
Fe (s )
N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ 2NH3 (g)
The Fe catalyst is a heterogeneous catalyst as it is in the solid phase, whereas the reactants and
products are all in the gas phase
Page 2 of 8
Heterogeneous Catalysis
In heterogeneous catalysis, the molecules react at the surface of a solid catalyst Your notes
The mode of action of a heterogeneous catalyst consists of the following steps:
Adsorption (or chemisorption) of the reactants on the catalyst surface
The reactants diffuse to the surface of the catalyst
The reactant is physically adsorbed onto the surface by weak forces
The reactant is chemically adsorbed onto the surface by stronger bonds
Chemisorption causes bond weakening between the atoms of the reactants
Desorption of the products
The bonds between the products and catalyst weaken so much that the products break away from
the surface
For example, the adsorption of hydrogen molecules onto a palladium (Pd) surface
How heterogeneous catalysts generally work
The reactants are adsorbed on the catalyst surface causing bond weakening and eventually desorption
of the products
Iron in the Haber process
In the Haber process ammonia (NH3) is produced from nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2)
An iron catalyst is used which speeds up the reaction by bringing the reactants close together on the
metal surface
This increases their likelihood to react with each other
The mode of action of the iron catalyst is as follows:
Diffusion of the nitrogen and hydrogen gas to the iron surface
Page 3 of 8
Adsorption of the reactant molecules onto the iron surface by forming bonds between the iron
and reactant atoms
These bonds are so strong that they weaken the covalent bonds between the nitrogen atoms Your notes
in N2 and hydrogen atoms in H2
But they are weak enough to break when the catalysis has been completed
The reaction takes place between the adsorbed nitrogen and hydrogen atoms which react with
each other on the iron surface to form NH3
Desorption occurs when the bonds between the NH3 and iron surface are weakened and
eventually broken
The formed NH3 diffuses away from the iron surface
Iron as a heterogeneous catalyst in the Haber Process
Page 4 of 8
Your notes
Iron brings the nitrogen and hydrogen closer together so that they can react and hence increases the
rate of reaction
Heterogeneous catalysts in catalytic converters
Heterogeneous catalysts are also used in the catalytic removal of oxides of nitrogen from the exhaust
gases of car engines
The catalysts speed up the conversion of:
Nitrogen oxides (NOy) into harmless nitrogen gas (N2)
Carbon monoxide (CO) into carbon dioxide (CO2)
The catalytic converter has a honeycomb structure containing small beads coated with platinum,
palladium, or rhodium metals which act as heterogeneous catalysts
The mode of action of the catalysts is as follows:
Adsorption of the nitrogen oxides and CO onto the catalyst surface
The weakening of the covalent bonds within nitrogen oxides and CO
Formation of new bonds between:
Adjacent nitrogen atoms to form N2 molecules
CO and oxygen atoms to form CO2 molecules
Desorption of N2 and CO2 molecules which eventually diffuse away from the metal surface
Heterogeneous catalysts in car exhausts
Page 5 of 8
Your notes
The metals in catalytic converters speed up the conversion of nitrogen oxides and CO into N2 and CO2
respectively
Page 6 of 8
Homogeneous Catalysis
Homogeneous catalysis often involves redox reactions in which the ions involved in catalysis undergo Your notes
changes in their oxidation number
As ions of transition metals can change oxidation number they are often good catalysts
Homogeneous catalysts are used in one step and are reformed in a later step
The iodine-peroxydisulfate reaction

This is a very slow reaction in which the peroxydisulfate (S2,O82- ) ions oxidise the iodide to iodine
S2O82- (aq) + 2I- (aq) → 2SO42- (aq) + I2 (aq)
Since both the S2O82- and I- ions have a negative charge, it will require a lot of energy for the ions to
overcome the repulsive forces and collide with each other
Therefore, Fe3+ (aq) ions are used as a homogeneous catalyst
The catalysis involves two redox reactions:
First, Fe3+ ions are reduced to Fe2+ by I-
2Fe3+ (aq) + 2I- (aq) → 2Fe2+ (aq) + I2 (aq)
Then, Fe2+ is oxidised back to Fe3+ by S2O82-
2Fe2+ (aq) + S2O82- (aq) → 2Fe3+ (aq) + 2SO42- (aq)
By reacting the reactants with a positively charged Fe ion, there are no repulsive forces, and the
activation energy is significantly lowered
The order of the two reactions does not matter
So, Fe2+ can be first oxidised to Fe3+ followed by the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+
The reaction pathway diagram for a two-stage catalysed reaction
Page 7 of 8
Your notes
The catalysed reaction has two energy ‘humps’ because it is a two-stage reaction
Nitrogen oxides & acid rain
As fossil fuels contain sulfur, burning the fuels will release sulfur dioxide which oxidises in air to sulfur
trioxide, and then dilute sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is formed by reaction with water. The result is
acidification of rain:
SO3 (g) + H2O (l) → H2SO4 (aq)
Nitrogen oxides can act as catalysts in the formation of acid rain by catalysing the oxidation of SO2 to
SO3
NO2 (g) + SO2 (g) → SO3 (g) + NO (g)
The formed NO gets oxidised to regenerate NO2
NO (g) + ½ O2 (g) → NO2 (g)
The regenerated NO2 molecule can again oxidise another SO2 molecule to SO3 which will react with
rainwater to form H2SO4 and so on
Page 8 of 8

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CIE A Level Chemistry Your notes

26.2 Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysts (AL)

Homogeneous & Heterogeneous Catalysts

The iodine-peroxydisulfate reaction

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