HMN 2026: How microscopic networks power reactions

Catalysts are essential to modern industry, accelerating reactions used to produce everything from fertilizers and fuels to medicines and hydrogen energy. But until now, scientists could not directly observe how reactions unfold across real catalyst surfaces.

In a study published in Nature Catalysis, researchers from Warwick and MIT have visualized activity across a platinum catalyst with unprecedented detail, revealing that catalyst surfaces function as coordinated, interconnected systems rather than isolated reaction hotspots.

Dr. Xiangdong Xu, Research Fellow in Chemistry at the University of Warwick and first author of the study, says, “Catalysts were long thought to work through individual hotspots where reactions happen fastest. Our work shows that the surface behaves more like an interconnected electrical network, with different regions sharing electrons and working together to drive the overall reaction.”

The study focused on thermochemical reactions relevant to fuel production and clean energy technologies. Using advanced scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) for the first time on these reactions, the team created detailed activity maps of the catalyst surface.

They discovered that individual crystal grains (small regions on the catalyst surface) specialize in different chemical steps, with some favoring oxidation and others reduction. By combining SECCM with crystallographic mapping, they could directly visualize cooperative electron flows between grains, showing that the catalyst operates as a coordinated system rather than a collection of independent sites.

Co-author Dr. Yogesh Surendranath, Associate Professor at MIT, says, “Catalyst surfaces are not just a patchwork of individual sites. We saw that different regions communicate through electron flow, and that connectivity helps make the overall reaction more efficient.”

The researchers also observed “chemical crosstalk,” where reactions in one region influenced neighboring areas, sometimes enhancing, sometimes suppressing activity.

Professor Pat Unwin FRS, from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick, adds, “For the first time, we can see how catalytic activity is organized across a real surface. This opens the door to designing better catalysts by engineering how different regions interact, instead of focusing on single active sites.”

The findings could guide the design of next-generation catalysts, accelerating the transition to clean energy and sustainable manufacturing.

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