Avelino Corma, Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences 2025, has pioneered the field of heterogeneous catalysis, so called because the catalyst is in a different phase of matter from the agents of the chemical reaction the researcher is seeking to accelerate. In his work, concretely, the catalyst is a solid and the reactants could be gases or liquids.
Corma has led the conception and synthesis of microporous materials that act as solid catalysts, where the reactions unfold inside molecule-sized cavities. These materials have opened the door to a more sustainable, less polluting chemistry.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences has gone in this seventeenth edition to Avelino Corma, John F. Hartwig and Helmut Schwarz for fundamental advances in the catalysis field, in the words of the committee, that have made it possible to “control and accelerate ch
Avelino Corma, Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences 2025, has pioneered the field of heterogeneous catalysis, so called because the catalyst is in a different phase of matter from the agents of the chemical reaction the researcher is seeking to accelerate. In his work, concretely, the catalyst is a solid and the reactants could be gases or liquids.
Corma has led the conception and synthesis of microporous materials that act as solid catalysts, where the reactions unfold inside molecule-sized cavities. These materials have opened the door to a more sustainable, less polluting chemistry.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences has gone in this seventeenth edition to Avelino Corma, John F. Hartwig and Helmut Schwarz for fundamental advances in the catalysis field, in the words of the committee, that have made it possible to “control and accelerate chemical reactions” and obtain products across multiple industrial processes, thereby “improving efficiency and reducing energy consumption.”
00:00 Introduction
00:04 Could you explain what heterogeneous catalysis is and what your fundamental contributions have been to this field of research?
01:00 What are the most important industrial applications that have already been achieved so far thanks to your research and how have they enabled progress towards the development of green chemistry?
02:20 Looking to the future, what applications do you think will be developed in the next few years thanks to your contributions to the field of catalysis?
