Enzymes and converters
Catalysts are not confined to the laboratory and the factory. They are at work inside your body, and inside the bus you catch.
Biological catalysts
The enzymes needed for the various biochemical processes that take place in living things — respiration, digestion, photosynthesis and protein synthesis among them — are known as biological catalysts.
Artificially produced biological catalysts are used in a range of detergents.
Catalytic converters
Modern motor vehicles carry a device called a catalytic converter, connected to the exhaust system. Its job is to convert the gases in the exhaust that pollute the environment, such as carbon monoxide and nitric oxide, into gases that do not.
The catalysts it contains (platinum, palladium) increase the rate of the reactions below.
2CO(g) + O2(g) → 2CO2(g)
2NO(g) + 2CO(g) → N2(g) + 2CO2(g)
Assignment 17.4
Study the catalysts used in various chemical industries and chemical processes, and the biological catalysts, or enzymes, at work in biochemical reactions, and prepare a booklet on them. Use library books as well as print and electronic media.