The main thrust of the program is heterogeneous catalysis. NSF is looking for proposals related to both gas-solid and liquid-solid heterogeneous catalysis, as well as proposals that incorporate concepts from homogeneous catalysis. Topic areas that are of particular interest include:

• Renewable energy-related catalysis with applications in electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and catalytic conversion of biomass-derived chemicals. Catalysis aimed at closing the carbon cycle (especially conversion of CO₂, methane, and natural gas to fuels and chemical intermediates).

• Catalytic alternatives to traditionally non-catalytic reaction processes, as well as new catalyst designs for established catalytic processes.

• Environmental catalysis (including energy-efficient and green routes to fuels and chemicals).

• Catalytic remediation of feedstocks, process streams, products, or effluents.

• Commercially scalable methods of catalyst synthesis.

• New catalytic materials and architectures (especially those substituting earth-abundant materials for precious and noble metal catalysts).

• Basic understanding of catalytic materials, reaction pathways, kinetics, and surface mechanisms.

• Durable, poison-resistant, and easily regenerable catalyst formulations and designs.

• Advances in tools for catalyst characterization and theoretical/computational catalysis.