Unifying views on catalyst deactivation

Berzelius stated that catalysts remain unaltered in their reaction environment. However, catalyst deactivation always becomes noticeable at certain timescales, frequently hindering commercial viability. Strikingly, a literature analysis reveals that stability remains secondary in catalyst design, and that each catalysis subdiscipline addresses it in an isolated manner. To reverse this situation, this Review identifies over 120 terms that describe deactivation in the literature for distinct catalyst types (heterogeneous, homogeneous and biocatalysts) and driving forces (thermo-, photo- and electrocatalysis). We classify them into 14 generalized modes that cause either loss, blockage or modification of the catalyst components. This unified framework guides our analysis, providing insights into the prevalence of deactivation mechanisms and commonalities across subdisciplines. Limited fundamental knowledge reflects a low adoption of operando methods that are crucial for studying the underlying dynamic processes. By linking the generalized modes to property alterations, we highlight multi-technique approaches to understand and mitigate catalyst deactivation across relevant scales.