Precious Metal Catalysts Market to Undertake Strapping Growth During 2024
Precious
metals, also known as noble metals, are metals which are inactive
toward chemical reaction and are chemically highly stable. Gold,
palladium, platinum, rhodium, and silver are some of the examples of
precious metals. Precious metal catalysts are those which consist of
highly dispersed nano-scale precious metal particles supported on a
high surface area such as carbon, silica, and alumina. These
catalysts have several applications in a variety of industries such
as refinery, petrochemicals, polymer, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
automotive, and environmental. Each precious metal catalyst has
unique characteristics. These catalysts are primarily used for
organic synthesis reactions.
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The
precious metal catalysts offer a wide variety of advantages. They are
highly stable and do not easily form oxides by oxidation. They also
do not readily dissolve in acid or alkaline solution. The melting
point of precious metals is higher than that of base metals. The
selection of precious metals is a crucial factor that needs to be
considered while deciding on their application. For example,
palladium or carbon can be used for hydrogenation of maleic acid in
water, which is in acidic condition. However, nickel catalyst cannot
be used for the same reaction, since nickel undergoes leaching.
Precious metal catalysts have high thermal stability, as a result of
which they find numerous applications in the automotive field.
The
nano-scale metal particles present in the precious metal catalysts
easily absorb hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere. The absorbed
hydrogen and oxygen readily react with many substitutes under mild
conditions. Thus, if mild reaction conditions are maintained,
relatively high product yield can be achieved by reducing the
formation of by-products. With advancements in the field of
nano-technology, progress is underway regarding the preparation
technology of precious metal catalysts in the recent years. This has
ensued in saving of energy, high productivity, and reduction in the
cost of production. These advantages of the precious metal catalysts
are expected to drive the market during the forecast period.
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Precious
metal catalysts are, however, expensive and undergo high price
volatility. Also, the usage of platinum metal as a fuel cell catalyst
faces a major drawback, that is, of high residue of carbon monoxide
being formed, that hinders the process of hydrogen electro oxidation.
Lack of proper precaution, such as maintenance of appropriate
reaction conditions, may lead to the precious metals turning toxic
during their use in reactions. Research is underway in order to
replace precious metals with their substitutes for use in organic
synthesis reactions, as the reserves of precious metals such as gold,
platinum, silver, palladium, rhodium, etc. are limited in the earth’s
crust. These drawbacks of the precious metal catalysts are
anticipated to hamper the growth of the market during the forecast
period.
Based
on type, the precious metal catalysts market can be segmented into:
platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium catalysts. By
end-use applications, the precious metal catalysts market can be
divided into: automobile, pharmaceutical, refinery, and others.
Besides the usage of platinum in catalytic converters for converting
unburned hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water vapor in
automobiles, the application of precious metal catalysts in exhaust
cleaning of cars is on the rise. For example, Nissan has obtained a
technology that makes use of precious metal catalysts in order to
achieve the efficiency similar to that of conventional catalysts in
the exhaust cleaning of its cars. Advanced nano-technology is
employed to increase the exposed metal surface area so that the fine
metal particles remain separated, leading to effective cleaning of
gases during exhaust cleaning. Several new applications of precious
metal catalysts in fuel cell power plants to be used for electric
cars are being explored by researchers.
Based
on geography, the precious metal catalysts market can be segmented
into: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle
East & Africa. Europe accounted for the dominant share of the
precious metal catalysts market in 2016. Stringent norms for emission
for automobiles imposed by the Government and the rapidly expanding
industrial sector in Europe are the few factors propelling the
precious metal catalysts market in the region.
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Some
of the major key players in the precious metal catalysts market are:
BASF, Evonik Industries AG, Johnson Matthey Plc., Heraeus Group,
Clariant International Ltd., Umicore, and Alfa Aesar.
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