Why do transition metals make good catalysts?

A transition metal is an element or ion that partial fills its d-orbital. Common transition metals include Scandium and Titanium. All of them are good conductors of heat and electricity. Also they have high melting and boiling points. These factors alone make transition metals versatile and useful.
Titanium Alloy

Catalysts are a substance that speeds up the rate of reaction but do not change the position of equilibrium. There are two types of catalysts homogenous and heterogeneous. A homogenous catalyst is one that is in the same state as the other reactants. A heterogeneous catalyst, on the other hand, is one that is in a different physical state to the rest of the reactants. The Haber process is a commonly known catalysed reaction involving Iron as the catalyst.
Fe

Another example is the Contact process. A heterogeneous catalyst is involved. V2O5

2SO2(g) + O2(g)

2SO3(g)

Transition metals are such good catalysts due to their variable oxidation states and their functionality to adsorb other substances on their surface and activate them in the process.

Adsorption is not the same as absorption whereby the latter is when a substance is taken up within the structure of another. Adsorption is where one substance sticks to a surface. A good catalyst needs to adsorb the reactant molecules strongly enough for them to react but not so strongly enough for them to permanently stick onto the surface. Examples of such catalysts are Platinum and Nickel.

Within the food industry catalysts are also used. The Fischer esterification, named after the eminent German chemist Emil Fischer, is the Brnsted acidcatalyzed reaction of an alcohol with a carboxylic acid to form an ester. Sulphuric acid is often the catalyst. Esters are widely used in the soap, perfume, and food industries.

The purpose of catalytic converters is to convert harmful hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides into harmless compounds. We have been trying to produce better and more economic catalytic converters

with higher converting efficiency for years.