Catalysis

The National Science Foundation's Catalysis program aims to increase fundamental understanding in catalytic engineering science and advance the development of catalysts and catalytic reactions beneficial to society. Research areas of emphasis include novel catalyst compositions, structures, operating environments, data science tools, theory, and modeling. Target applications include fuels, specialty and bulk chemicals, environmental catalysis, biomass conversion, greenhouse gas mitigation, and energy utilization. Proposals should address the novelty and potentially transformative nature of the proposed work, as well as its importance in terms of engineering science and potential impact on society and industry. Some key points to consider include: • Energy-related catalysis, utilizing renewable or sustainable energy • Catalysis aimed at closing the carbon cycle • Heterogeneous catalytic alternatives to non-catalytic or homogeneous reaction processes • Environmental catalysis focused on mitigating air and water pollutants • Catalytic remediation of feedstocks, process streams, products, or effluents • Commercially scalable methods of catalyst synthesis • New catalytic materials and architectures • Basic understanding of catalytic materials, reaction pathways, kinetics, and surface reaction mechanisms • Advanced tools for catalyst characterization and theoretical/computational catalysis