Title: pretreatment
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - pretreatment
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.P04826
Status: current

Definition
Following the preparation of a catalyst or following its insertion into a catalytic reactor, it is often subjected to various treatments before the start of a catalytic run. The term pretreatment may, in general, be applied to this set of treatments. In some cases the word activation is used. It implies that the material is converted into a catalyst or into a very much more effective one by the pretreatment.

Related Terms
- activation: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00093
- catalyst: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C00876
- insertion: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03058

Source
- PAC, 1976, 46, 71. 'Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units - Appendix II. Definitions, Terminology and Symbols in Colloid and Surface Chemistry. Part II: Heterogeneous Catalysis' on page 80 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac197646010071)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04826/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04826/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04826/xml

Citation: Citation: 'pretreatment' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.P04826
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-08-07T23:59:33+00:00