Spiers Memorial Lecture: Spin-mediated promotion of magnetic metal catalysts

Abstract

Spin-mediated promotion is a newly discovered electronic promotion mechanism for magnetic metal-catalyst surfaces. A promoter like Ba locally quenches the spin density of the surface atoms at the active site, which stabilizes nearby adsorbates. As this effect is geometrically constrained to atoms neighboring the promoter, and since adsorbates are stabilized to different degrees by this effect, this can break scaling relations, and allows for the design of more efficient catalysts. In this review, we give a detailed explanation of the spin-mediated promotion mechanism. We then illustrate the effect for three different reactions: ammonia synthesis, ammonia decomposition, and CO methanation. We conclude by discussing how spin-mediated promotion can be utilized for other reactions and classes of catalysts, and how it can guide new catalyst development.