Abstract: This chapter deals with the energetical, kinetic, and chemical equilibrium aspects of chemical reactions. Reactions are classified based on the order of reaction, which is the number of chemical species (molecules or atoms) that determine, based on their concentration, the reaction rate of the process. In principle, all chemical reactions are reversible: they comprise forward and reverse reactions. Caused by the existence of the elementary reactions, the kinetics of the global rate law cannot be theoretically deduced but only experimentally. We can determine whether increasing or decreasing the temperature favors the forward or reverse reaction by applying the same principle as with concentration changes. The word catalysis was coined by Berzelius in 1836 to describe the acceleration of certain chemical reactions. Finally, the main aspects of catalysis are introduced, in particular the difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis and catalyst deactivation.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-09-26
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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