Reactivity Enhancement by Molecular Traffic Control

For two decades, the concept of reactivity enhancement by “molecular traffic control” has been controversially discussed. According to this concept, effective reactivity in zeolite catalysis may be enhanced if reactant and product molecules do not interfere with each other on their diffusion paths. As a major deficiency of this concept, so far no clear criteria for the occurrence of this effect are known. Considering a network of channels with single-file confinement and selective adsorption affinity to either the reactant or the product molecules, a model is introduced in which the possibility of reactivity enhancement may be rigorously demonstrated.