catalise
Catalyse, or catalysis in American spelling, is the process by which a substance called a catalyst increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the overall process. A catalyst provides an alternative reaction pathway with a lower activation energy, allowing more reactant molecules to surmount the energy barrier at a given temperature. The catalyst is not consumed and is recovered unchanged at the end of the reaction, though it may be temporarily modified or occupied by intermediates.
Catalysts are classified by phase: homogeneous catalysts operate in the same phase as the reactants; heterogeneous
Common principles include adsorption of reactants on active sites, formation of intermediate species, and desorption of
Industrial examples include the iron catalyst used in ammonia synthesis (Haber–Bosch), vanadium(V) oxide in the contact