The main function of catalysts is to reduce the activation energy of the chemical reaction and accelerate the reaction speed, so it is widely used in oil refining, chemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, environmental protection and other industries. Technological advances in catalysts are one of the most effective drivers for the development of these industries. The advent of a new catalytic material or a new catalytic process often leads to revolutionary industrial changes, and accompanied by huge social and economic benefits.

In 1913, the advent of iron based catalyst to achieve the synthesis of ammonia, since then the fertilizer industry has developed rapidly in the world; In the late 1950s, Ziegler-Natta catalysts pioneered the synthetic materials industry; In the early 1950s, molecular sieve triggered a revolution in the field of catalysis with its special structure and properties. In the 1970s, the automobile exhaust gas purification catalyst was industrialized in the United States and attracted widespread attention worldwide. In the 1980s, metallocene catalysts brought new development opportunities to the polyolefin industry. At present, human beings are facing many major challenges, such as: the decreasing of resources, it is necessary for people to rationally develop and comprehensively use resources, and establish and develop resource-saving agriculture, industry, transportation and living systems; Economic development has caused the spread of environmental pollution and the deterioration of natural ecology, which requires the establishment and development of ecological industries with full recycling of materials and the realization of clean production to application. The solution of these major problems is closely related to catalyst and catalytic technology. Therefore, many countries, especially developed countries, attach great importance to the development of new catalysts and the development of catalytic technology, and will take catalyst technology as the priority development focus of the new century.