Elements of the Manufacture and Properties of Technical Catalysts

Despite the humongous volume of literature aiming to present the synthesis of innovative, more selective, stable, and active solid catalysts, the catalysts that come to be used at the industrial level, known as technical catalysts, are scarcely studied and poorly understood starting from the fact that most of the information on their manufacturing remains as an industrial secret. Therefore, many knowledge gaps and uncertainties in the techniques suitable to transform catalytic powders into technical catalysts lie ahead of those researchers who decide to engage in the development and study of applied catalysis. Therefore, this review seeks to provide guidance on the process for manufacturing technical catalysts from catalytic powders while also providing insight into the targeted properties of such materials. Specifically, this review examines the aspects related to the manufacture of technical catalysts spanning from the operations related to the mixture of their components to the thermal treatments to which the corresponding shaped bodies are submitted. Furthermore, we define and discuss the properties considered as key when evaluating the catalytic performance of the shaped materials.