Science Daily  February 15, 2024 Electric fields play a key role in enzymatic catalysis and can enhance reaction rates by 100,000-fold, but the same rate enhancements have yet to be achieved in thermochemical heterogeneous catalysis. Researchers at MIT probed the influence of catalyst potential and interfacial electric fields on heterogeneous Brønsted acid catalysis. They found that variations in applied potential of ~380 mV led to a 100,000-fold rate enhancement for 1-methylcyclopentanol dehydration, which was catalyzed by carbon-supported phosphotungstic acid. Mechanistic studies supported a model in which the interfacial electrostatic potential drop drove quasi-equilibrated proton transfer to the adsorbed substrate prior […]