Tailoring surface electronic properties to promote chemical reactivity

One of the foremost objectives in the search for improved catalysts is the promotion of molecule dissociation, which in many catalytic reactions is the rate limiting step. It is shown that modification of electronic surface states by surface dopants allows to control the dissociation barrier. The relation of this new type of promotion mechanism to the effect of surfactants in metal epitaxy opens a new perspective in the search for both, promoters and surfactants.