Background
World Gold Council has taken the initiative in commissioning the preparation of a number of Gold Reference Catalysts, with the main objective of enabling researchers to benchmark their own catalyst formulations against a common reference catalyst, thereby permitting more accurate comparison with other research results.

Three of the Reference Catalysts are gold on oxide supports made by Süd Chemie, Japan under the supervision of Dr Masatake Haruta, with characterisation at AIST, Japan supervised by Dr Susumu Tsubota. The fourth catalyst is gold on carbon produced by Professor Michele Rossi of the University of Milan.

Over 250 catalyst samples have been supplied to numerous organisations including the following:

• 3M
• 3netics Corporation
• Activation
• AE Advanced Engineering Inc.
• Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
• BP Chemical Company
• Cardiff University
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
• CeraMem Corporation
• Charles University
• Chinese Academy of Science
• Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali
• CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , Madrid
• Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China
• Darmstadt University of Technology
• Degussa AG
• Delft University of Technology
• Dow Chemicals USA
• DSM Nutritional Products Ltd.
• Dupont Textiles & Interiors
• Engelhard Corporation
• ETH - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
• Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto
• Federal Agricultural Research Centre, Germany
• Fudan University
• GE India Technology Centre
• GKSS Forschungszentrum
• Heriot-Watt University
• Hong Kong Baptist University
• Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Hungarian Academy Sciences
• Instituto de Catalisis y Petroleoquimica CSIC
• Instituto Valencia
• ITN Energy Systems Inc.
• Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, UK
• KRI (Formerly, Kansai Research Institute, Inc.)
• La Roche AG
• Lanzhou Institute, China
• Loughborough University
• Massey University
• Micro Reactor System Co. Ltd.
• Mintek, South Africa
• N.E. Chemcat Corporation
• Navel Research Laboratory
• NE Chemcat
• Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Norway
• Northwestern University, USA
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Polish Academy of Sciences
• Protec International
• Queens University Belfast
• Ruhr-University Bochum
• Salford University
• Shell International Chemicals
• State University of New York at Binghamton
• Symyx Technologies Inc
• Technical University of Denmark
• Tennessee Valley Authority
• Texas A&M University
• The University of Auckland
• The University of Catania
• The University of New South Wales
• Trinity University
• Tufts University
• Unifine Works Ltd.
• Universal Laser Systems Inc.
• Universidad Industrial de Santander
• Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
• Universidad Politecnica de Valencia
• Università degli Studi di Milano
• Universita Venezia
• Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris
• University College London
• University di Torino
• University Libre De Bruxelles
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• University of Bochum
• University of Bologna
• University of Cadiz
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Cape Town
• University of Glasgow
• University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign
• University of Limerick
• University of Lyon
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Messina
• University of New Mexico
• University of New South Wales, Australia
• University of Newcastle
• University of Pisa
• University of Poitiers
• University of South Carolina
• University of South Florida
• University of Szeged
• University of Virginia
• University of Virginia
• University of Wisconsin
• Weizmann Institute of Science
• Wella AG
• Yuan Ze University

Each sample contains 10g of catalyst and a small charge is made for each sample to cover handling and administration costs. Please see order form for charging schedule.

Catalyst Type	Description	Preparation Method	Availability
Type A	Au/TiO2	Deposition Precipitation	Available
Type B	Au/Fe2O3 on alumina beads	Deposition Precipitation	Available
Type C	Au/Fe2O3	Coprecipitation	Available
Type D	Au/C	Gold Sol	Available

 

Each of the catalyst preparations has been characterised with respect to gold loading, gold particle size (where possible) and catalytic activity in carbon monoxide and hydrogen oxidation tests (in the case of Types A, B, and C). Details of this characterisation will be supplied with the samples.

Conditions of Supply
It is expected that wherever possible, users of a Gold Reference Catalyst sample will publish their results both in the characterization and activity spheres. When doing so, acknowledgement should be made to the provision of samples under the Reference Catalyst programme by World Gold Council. We will be pleased to publish these results in our journal Gold Bulletin, subject to the normal review process.

Disclaimer
The gold catalysts prepared under the Reference Catalyst Programme are prepared and characterised using the latest science and techniques. However, users of the catalysts are advised that World Gold Council and its partners in the programme bear no responsibility for the performance of the catalysts or any accident, injury or damage arising from their delivery, handling or use.

The following are known publications containing details of tests carried out on the Gold Reference Catalysts. Please contact industry@gold.org if you are aware of additional publications:

• Carrettin et al, Angew, chem. Int. Ed., 2004, 43, 2538-2540
• Milone et al, J. Catal, 2004, 222, 348-356
• Dumesic et al, Science, 2004, 305, 1280-
• Overbury et al J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 10676-10685
• Kung et al, J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 10319-10326
• Rousset et al, J. Catal 2005, 230, 476–483
• Galvagno et al, J. Catal 2004, 222, 348
• Corma et al Angew Chem Int Ed, 2004, 43, 2538
• Dumesic et al, J Catal, 2005, 235, 327 - 332
• T. Tabakova, et al, Appl Catal. B: Environmental, 2006, 63(1-2) 94 - 103
• Lopez-Sanchez et al, Applied Catalysis, A: General 2005, 291(1-2), 230-237.
• Al-Sayari et al, Topics in Catalysis, 2007, 44(1-2), 123-128
• Bowker et al, Catalysis Today, 2007, 122 (3-4), 245-247
  

Further information
Please contact: Dr Richard Holliday, International Technology, World Gold Council, 55 Old Broad Street, London EC2M 1RX
email: richard.holliday@gold.org

Custom-Made Gold Catalysts
As well as the World Gold Council Gold Reference Catalysts (available in 10gram samples), larger kilogram quantities of gold catalysts in a form suitable for industrial use in a variety of applications, are also now available to potential end users. The specifications for these custom-made gold catalysts are:

Quantities	0.1 - 1 kg
Support materials	TiO2 ZnO Al2O3 Fe2O3 (other types on request)
Catalyst particle sizes	powders(<100 microns) granulate (>250 microns)
Gold loadings	0.2 - 2.5 wt% as desired

The costs of catalysts are related to the type and quantity of the support material, the gold loading requested, plus the manufacturing costs. Please contact industry@gold.org if you would like to receive more information on these catalysts.