4. Conclusion

Catalyst efficiency is usually discovered before the operating mechanism. As a result, they are used in automotive exhaust systems and other industrial applications before the chemistry involved is fully understood. However, understanding the mechanism of chemical reactions on the solid surface is a key to improving their performance, and infrared spectroscopy is a powerful and relatively accessible tool for this purpose. Infrared spectroscopy can be used to determine the chemical species formed on the catalyst surface when in contact with gases, by observing the spectrum before and after adsorption. The technique can also be used on a catalyst in operation, in a catalytic reactor equipped with transparent windows in this spectral range: this is the operando mode study. By using so-called transient conditions, i.e. by imposing sudden modifications on the system, it is possible to follow...