Heterogeneous Gold Catalysts and Catalysis: RSC (Catalysis Series)

Once considered an inert element, gold has recently gained attention as a catalyst. With hundreds of papers being published each year, this book presents a comprehensive review of this rapidly-evolving field, with contributions by leading experts across the globe. Going through the chapters citing the primary literature, the reader will gain a thorough background to the use of gold in catalysis, as well as the latest methods for the preparation of gold catalysts. Other chapters demonstrate the characterisation and modelling of gold-catalysed reactions, with consideration given to both the fundamentals and commercial applications of this emerging group of catalysts.

Written to be accessible by postgraduates and newcomers to the field, this book will also benefit experienced researchers and therefore be an essential reference in the laboratory.

Zhen Ma was born in Shanghai in November of 1976. He enrolled as a chemistry student at Fudan University in 1994. In route to earning a BS in chemistry, Zhen carried out research on catalysis of mesoporous silica-supported heteropolyacids under the direction of Prof. Zi Gao. After graduating in 1998, Zhen became an MSc student in the same university to study the preparation and environmental catalysis (Freon decomposition) of novel solid strong acids under Prof. Zi Gao. There he earned an MS degree in chemistry in 2001. Subsequently, he moved to University of California, Riverside and studied in situ spectroscopic characterization of liquid-solid interfaces of catalysis relevance with Prof. Francisco Zaera, and earned a PhD degree in chemistry in 2006. He then moved to Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a postdoc and studied environmental catalysis (CO oxidation and water-gas shift) using gold catalysts with Dr. Sheng Dai. He stared as an Associate Professor at Fudan University in December of 2009. Currently, his research interest is still on environmental catalysis by gold catalysts and other nanomaterials.