Catalytic Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide by Molybdate - Colourful Insights into the Essence of Catalysis

Lukas Zell^1, , Dennis Lüke¹ and Marco Oetken¹

¹Institut für Chemie, Physik, Technik und ihre Didaktiken, Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Cite this paper:
Lukas Zell, Dennis Lüke and Marco Oetken. Catalytic Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide by Molybdate - Colourful Insights into the Essence of Catalysis. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2023; 11(3):31-37. doi: 10.12691/wjce-11-3-3

Abstract

The use of catalysts in chemistry and biology is ubiquitous. To help students understand the nature of catalysis, several experiments on catalysis are used in schools. These all have one drawback - the cause of the lowered activation energy remains unknown. In this article we present the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide using molybdate ions. This model catalyst provides a detailed insight into the reaction process through two coloured intermediates, allowing direct phenomenological conclusions to be drawn about the alternative reaction pathway. This is the true reason for the reduced activation energy.

Keywords:
Catalysis hydrogen peroxide molybdate chromate alternative reaction pathway

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