One of the grand challenges faced by the chemical and allied industries is the transition to greener, more sustainable manufacturing processes that efficiently use raw materials, eliminate waste and avoid the use of toxic and hazardous materials. It requires a paradigm shift from traditional concepts of process efficiency to one that assigns economic value to replacing fossil resources. Nanocatalysts are promising candidates that have many benefits and can contribute significantly to this challenge.
In nanoconfined catalysis, the catalytic reaction sites and the reactant molecules are limited to nanosized cavities and channels where the molecular transformations behave significantly different from those in bulk systems. In comparison to conventional homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic systems, nanoconfined catalysis can offer distinct advantages such as: easy to recover and recycle; convenient product separation and purification; Non or negligible deactivation caused by aggregation, etc.