Intermetallic Compounds in Catalysis

In catalysis, intermetallic compounds play an important role as precursors for skeletal catalysts or can be formed under reaction conditions and influence the catalytic properties significantly. They can also be applied as catalysts in an unsupported state in a large number of reactions. Intermetallic compounds are structurally more complex than elemental metals or substitutional alloys and thus offer a broad range of different crystal and electronic structures. In addition, the often partly covalent bonding in the compounds increases their stability under reaction conditions and enables an innovative realization of geometric and electronic concepts. This article summarizes the work in the field, aiming at presenting the different ideas and not at giving a full literature review. Special emphasis is put on the knowledge-based development, which becomes feasible using unsupported and in situ stable intermetallic compounds as catalysts. Keywords: Heterogeneous catalysis; intermetallic compounds; selective hydrogenation; methanol steam reforming; electrocatalysis; knowledge-based approach; electronic structure; geometric structure