Fundamental research in catalysis with emphasis on confinement effects

Our understanding towards heterogeneous catalysis has advanced tremendously over the past century. The fundamental description of a chemical reaction occurring at a heterogeneous catalyst surface starts from depicting the interaction between the electronic structure of adsorbates and that of catalyst surfaces. In this aspect, surface science since 1960s has been successful in providing us with a molecular picture of the bond breaking/formation at extended solid surfaces and with its correlation with surface (electronic) structure. However, not until the emergence of nanoscience, fundamental research with nanocatalysts starts to present opportunities to reveal the essence of heterocatalysis, and eventually, to enable the design of highly efficient novel catalysts. In this paper, current research frontiers in nanocatalysis are briefly overviewed, with research necessities outlined. Specifically, a few fundamental aspects of the confinement effects, a phenomenon generally present in nanocatalysts, are highlighted using CNT-based catalysts and FeO/Pt catalyst as examples.