Summary

Supported precious metal catalysts should not be compared solely by product names such as “5% Pd/C” or “3% Pt/Al₂O₃” and by price per kilogram. In actual procurement, the calculation basis for metal loading must first be standardized, the suitability of the support, metal distribution, and chemical state for the target reaction must be confirmed, and activity, selectivity, filtration performance, and metal residues must be verified through sample testing, scale-up trials, and batch data. Before commercial procurement, precious metal ownership, spent catalyst sampling, analysis, payable percentage, and recovery settlement methods should also be clearly defined to avoid dosing errors, production variability, and precious metal losses caused by inconsistent specification bases.

Core Procurement Scenarios for Supported Precious Metal Catalysts

Supported precious metal catalysts are catalytic materials in which palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, gold, or other precious metals are deposited on supports such as activated carbon, alumina, silica, or titanium dioxide. They are commonly used in hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, oxidation, selective reduction, coupling, and other fine chemical reactions.

Actual procurement commonly occurs in the following scenarios:

• New process development requiring the screening of active metals, supports, and metal loadings;
• Price increases, extended lead times, or unstable supply of the current catalyst, creating a need to validate alternative grades;
• Scale-up from laboratory development, requiring confirmation of filtration, mass transfer, and equipment compatibility;
• Stricter downstream requirements for precious metal residues, requiring evaluation of leaching and fines carryover;
• Increased catalyst consumption, requiring the establishment of spent catalyst recovery and precious metal settlement mechanisms;
• Acceptable activity from the current catalyst but insufficient selectivity, cycle life, or batch consistency.

During R&D, reaction activity and selectivity are usually the first priorities. Production scale-up also requires consideration of slurry behavior, filtration rate, catalyst recovery, and operating methods. Quality control focuses more on batch data, product metal residues, and analytical methods, while supply chain management must additionally confirm precious metal pricing mechanisms, lead times, and recovery terms.

Confirm the Exact Product Being Purchased Before Procurement

A Product Name Should Not Be Limited to “5% Palladium on Carbon”

“5% Pd/C” only indicates the primary metal, support, and nominal loading. It does not fully describe the catalyst’s delivery condition or performance in use.

Formal specifications should at least confirm:

• The active precious metal;
• The support name and grade;
• The nominal precious metal loading and acceptance range;
• Whether the loading is reported on a dry basis, as-delivered basis, or another basis;
• Whether the catalyst is reduced, unreduced, oxidized, sulfided, or in another chemical state;
• Whether it contains selectivity modifiers, promoters, or stabilizers;
• The wetting medium and its content;
• Whether the product is supplied as powder, granules, extrudates, or another physical form;
• The supplier’s product code and manufacturing grade;
• The recommended reaction or application range.

A more complete product description may be written as:

5 wt% Pd on activated carbon, on a dry basis, water-wet, reduced form, powder, for liquid-phase selective hydrogenation.

Supported catalysts are usually composite products consisting of a precious metal, a support, a wetting medium, and other treatment components. The precious metal component, support, and finished catalyst may each correspond to different CAS numbers. A single CAS number therefore cannot determine whether two products are equivalent.

During specification confirmation, the product name, composition, supplier grade, chemical state, and delivery form should all be reviewed together.

Define the Process Window Before Selecting a Grade

Only after the process conditions are clearly defined do parameters such as metal loading, support surface area, and particle size have meaningful comparative value.

How to Compare Metal Loading and Actual Precious Metal Quantity

Dry-Basis Metal Loading and As-Delivered Metal Loading

Dry-basis metal loading is the mass percentage of precious metal relative to the dry catalyst after excluding moisture or other volatile components.

As-delivered metal loading is the mass percentage of precious metal relative to the total delivered product. For water-wet catalysts, as-delivered loading is generally lower than dry-basis loading.

The procurement risk does not usually come from the calculation formula itself, but from differences in how suppliers define ordered weight, invoiced weight, and delivered wet weight.

For example, a catalyst may be delivered in a water-wet state while the quotation and ordered quantity are still based on dry catalyst weight. In this case, the actual delivered wet weight will be higher than the contracted dry weight, and the number of drums or wet material weight cannot be used directly as the precious metal pricing basis.

The specification, quotation, COA, and contract should consistently define the following four items:

• Whether the ordered quantity refers to wet material weight or dry catalyst weight;
• The basis on which precious metal loading is reported;
• Whether moisture is based on a nominal value or an actual batch test result;
• Whether the precious metal price and catalyst processing fee are listed separately.

Higher Loading Does Not Necessarily Mean Higher Catalytic Efficiency

Catalytic performance depends on the active sites accessible to the reactants, not on the total amount of precious metal in the catalyst.

Some precious metal may be located in pores that the target substrate cannot easily enter, or it may be blocked by the support, deposits, or surface coverage. Although this metal is included in the total content measurement, it may not effectively participate in the reaction.

Therefore, a catalyst with 10% loading does not necessarily provide higher activity per unit of precious metal than a 5% product, nor does it necessarily reduce the cost per unit of product.

Actual comparisons should include:

1. The amount of precious metal contained in each kilogram of delivered catalyst;
2. The catalyst procurement cost per gram of precious metal;
3. The precious metal dosage required to reach the same reaction endpoint;
4. The solids loading and filtration burden at the same production output;
5. The actual operating cost after deducting the recovery value of the precious metal.

How the Support, Pore Structure, and Metal Distribution Affect Performance

The support does more than hold the precious metal. It also affects metal dispersion, pore diffusion, surface acidity or basicity, mechanical strength, filtration performance, and the catalyst deactivation pathway.

Some Parameters Cannot Be Compared Directly Without Considering the Method

A higher surface area may improve metal dispersion, but if much of the surface area comes from micropores that the target substrate cannot access, it may not result in higher practical reaction efficiency.

Metal Distribution Must Match the Reaction and Particle Size

Precious metals may be distributed uniformly throughout the support or concentrated mainly near the outer surface of the particles. A surface-enriched distribution is commonly referred to as an egg-shell distribution.

Surface enrichment can shorten the diffusion distance to the active region and may be suitable for reactions limited by internal diffusion. However, surface metal may also be more vulnerable to mechanical abrasion, poisoning, or local overheating.

Internal loading may provide better physical protection for the precious metal, but metal located in deeper pores may not be effectively accessible to large-molecule substrates.

For particulate catalysts, total metal content alone is usually insufficient to predict performance. Where necessary, metal distribution, particle cross-section analysis, and actual reaction results should be evaluated together.

How to Distinguish Metal Leaching from Catalyst Fines Carryover

Metal leaching is the migration of precious metal from the solid catalyst into the liquid phase during the reaction or downstream treatment.

Fines carryover refers to catalyst particles, support fragments, or metal-containing particulates passing through the filter medium into the product. Fines carryover can increase the total precious metal detected in the product but does not necessarily mean that the precious metal has dissolved.

Precious metal residues in the product may originate from:For further discussion of analytical methods and workable specification limits, see palladium, nickel, and copper residue testing.

• Dissolved or ionic metal;
• Colloidal or nanoscale metal;
• Catalyst fines passing through the filter medium;
• Cross-contamination from equipment or sampling;
• Re-dissolution caused by downstream treatment conditions.

Leaching Tests Must Define the Analytical Boundary

One possible approach for process validation is:

1. Measure total precious metal in the unfiltered reaction mixture after completion;
2. Filter through a filter medium with a defined pore size and measure again;
3. Analyze the filter membrane or retained solids where necessary;
4. Compare the precious metal results before and after filtration;
5. Combine digestion conditions and particle-size information to assess the possible contributions of dissolved, colloidal, and particulate metal.

The specific method must be validated for the product matrix and target limit. A catalyst that shows low leaching in one reaction system may not show the same behavior under different solvents, pH conditions, temperatures, or substrates.

Validation from Sample to Commercial Batch

Sample Comparisons Should Use the Same Precious Metal Dosage

Catalysts with different loadings should not be compared using the same catalyst mass alone.

If equal masses of 5% and 10% catalysts are used, the precious metal dosage may differ by a factor of two, and the results cannot be used to judge efficiency per unit of precious metal.

A more reasonable comparison is to:

• Dose the same molar amount of precious metal;
• Use the same substrate-to-precious-metal ratio;
• Then compare reaction time, selectivity, solids loading, and filtration performance.

Stage 1: Laboratory Performance Validation

The current catalyst should be retained as the control, while substrate batch, solvent, temperature, pressure, agitation, reaction endpoint, and downstream treatment conditions should be kept as consistent as possible.

Stage 2: Boundary-Condition and Stability Validation

After basic performance is confirmed, additional testing may include:

• Temperature and pressure boundary tests;
• Acidic and alkaline condition variation;
• Sensitivity to raw material impurities;
• Extended reaction-time testing;
• Catalyst reuse testing;
• Activity after storage or air exposure;
• Filtration and washing recovery tests;
• Analysis of precious metal and support condition after deactivation.

Cycle count alone should not be treated as the performance conclusion. Reaction time, selectivity, catalyst mass loss, and changes in precious metal residue should also be recorded for each cycle.

Stage 3: Pilot-Scale or Production Equipment Validation

During scale-up, particular attention should be paid to:

• Gas-liquid-solid mass transfer;
• Catalyst suspension and settling;
• Mixing dead zones;
• Reaction heat release;
• Charging and discharge methods;
• Filtration equipment load;
• Filter cake washing efficiency;
• Catalyst recovery rate;
• Precious metal residues in equipment and piping;
• Cleaning difficulty between batches.

A fine-particle catalyst that shows high laboratory activity may increase filtration time and fines-management pressure at scale. A larger-particle catalyst may be easier to filter but may also be affected by internal mass-transfer limitations.

Commercial selection should balance reaction efficiency, production cycle time, and precious metal loss.

How to Confirm Batch Consistency

Batch consistency for supported precious metal catalysts cannot be evaluated only by total loading.

Before commercial approval, multiple independent batches may be compared for trends in:

• Precious metal content;
• Moisture or wetting-medium content;
• Support grade and source;
• Particle size and fines fraction;
• Bulk density;
• Ash and key inorganic impurities;
• Metal chemical state;
• Standard reaction activity;
• Selectivity in the actual process;
• Filtration performance;
• Precious metal residue in the product.

The number of batches to be validated should depend on catalyst value, production scale, downstream residue requirements, and the supplier’s historical consistency. A fixed number should not replace risk-based judgment.

Sample approval records should also include:

• Supplier product code;
• Manufacturing site;
• Support source or grade;
• Catalyst manufacturing route;
• Analytical method version;
• Sample batch number and retention-sample information.

The following changes generally require advance notification and an assessment of whether revalidation is necessary:

• Change in precious metal precursor;
• Change in support source, origin, or grade;
• Change in loading, reduction, or heat-treatment process;
• Change in wetting medium;
• Change in manufacturing site;
• Change in key analytical method;
• Change in packaging or delivery form;
• Adjustment of the formal specification range.

Which Information Should Be Reviewed in Catalyst Documents

In addition to general document review, supported precious metal catalysts require particular attention to fields related directly to loading basis, delivery condition, and precious metal management.

Actual COA results should use the same calculation basis as the contract specification. If the specification defines loading on a dry basis but the COA reports only as-delivered results, moisture and the conversion relationship should also be provided.

Typical values in a TDS should not automatically be treated as delivery guarantees. Parameters used for acceptance should be included in the formal specification or quality agreement.

Whether Packaging, Transport, and Storage Match the Product Condition

Packaging for supported precious metal catalysts affects not only transport compliance but also moisture, dosing, and handling condition.

The following should be confirmed:

• Whether the net package weight is stated on a wet or dry basis;
• The type and allowable range of the wetting medium;
• Whether the packaging can minimize moisture loss;
• How the product should be resealed after opening;
• Whether air exclusion or inert gas is required;
• Whether the packaging is suitable for sampling and charging at the production site;
• Whether catalyst fines are likely to be lost during transfer;
• Whether the transport classification matches the actual delivery form;
• Whether the destination has suitable receiving and storage conditions.

Dry, wet, reduced, and unreduced catalysts should not be assumed to have the same storage and transport requirements solely because they use the same metal and support.

Specific packaging, transport, and handling conditions should follow the current product documentation, transport mode, destination requirements, and applicable chemical shipping and delivery requirements.

How to Compare Price, Lead Time, and Precious Metal Risk

Price per Kilogram Does Not Represent Actual Operating Cost

The total operating cost of a precious metal catalyst can be expressed as:

Total operating cost = precious metal cost + catalyst processing fee + packaging and transport cost + validation and production operating cost + precious metal loss − recovery settlement value

Actual comparisons may include:

• Price per kilogram of delivered catalyst;
• Price per kilogram of dry catalyst;
• Catalyst cost per gram of precious metal;
• Catalyst cost required to reach the same reaction endpoint;
• Filtration and downstream treatment cost per batch;
• Net cost after deducting the expected recovery value.

The quotation should preferably list separately:

• Precious metal price and pricing date;
• Precious metal price adjustment mechanism;
• Catalyst processing fee;
• Packaging and wetting-medium costs;
• Analytical costs;
• Transport and insurance costs;
• Precious metal leasing or financing costs;
• Recovery, analytical, and refining costs;
• Quotation currency and validity period.

If the precious metal price and processing fee are not separated, it becomes difficult to determine whether quotation changes are driven by the precious metal market or manufacturing cost.

Lead Time Should Be Broken Down into Key Steps

Lead time for supported precious metal catalysts may include:

• Precious metal preparation or metal-account transfer;
• Support preparation;
• Catalyst manufacturing;
• Reduction, activation, or wetting treatment;
• Testing and batch release;
• Special packaging;
• Export document preparation;
• Transport and customs clearance.

Common delivery-risk signals include:

• Quoted lead time that is clearly shorter than the actual manufacturing and release cycle;
• No confirmation of precious metal availability or the specified support;
• Sample stock available, but no production schedule for the commercial batch;
• Lead time calculated from payment date while precious metal pricing or transfer remains incomplete;
• Special packaging and transport arrangements not included in the lead time;
• No contract provisions for delay notification and alternative handling.

Precious Metal Recovery Terms Should Be Confirmed Before Commercial Procurement

Precious metal recovery is not only a waste-disposal issue. It also concerns metal ownership, material balance, working capital, and future catalyst procurement.

Define Precious Metal Ownership and Supply Mode

Common models include:

• One-time purchase of both catalyst and precious metal;
• Customer-supplied metal with the supplier charging a processing fee;
• Precious metal leasing;
• Precious metal account transfer;
• Recovered metal returned to the customer’s metal account;
• Recovery value credited against new catalyst purchases.

Different models affect precious metal price risk, inventory management, financial accounting, and ownership of the spent catalyst. The contract should define the point at which ownership of the precious metal transfers.

Define Which Materials Are Included in Recovery

Materials that may contain precious metal include:

• Spent catalyst;
• Filter cake;
• Fines retained in filters and filter media;
• Equipment-cleaning residues;
• Precious-metal-containing waste liquids;
• Production dust;
• Off-specification or expired catalyst;
• Packaging and absorbent materials contaminated with precious metal.

If the recovery scope includes only the main filter cake while excluding equipment residues, filtration fines, and cleaning materials, the long-term precious metal balance may show a persistent gap.

Distinguish Recovery Rate, Payable Percentage, and Settlement Quantity

Technical recovery rate is the percentage of precious metal extracted from the material during refining.

Payable percentage is the percentage of the confirmed precious metal quantity that the recovery provider settles with the material owner under the contract.

Settlement precious metal quantity is the final precious metal quantity returned, credited, or offset against payment after agreed deductions.

These three concepts should not be treated as the same indicator.

Once the contract terms are clearly defined, the settlement logic may be expressed as:

Settlement precious metal quantity = confirmed dry-basis weight × confirmed precious metal content × contractual payable percentage − agreed deductions

The contract may also include:

• Pretreatment fees;
• Homogenization and sampling fees;
• Analytical fees;
• Refining fees;
• Special impurity handling fees;
• Packaging and transport fees;
• Precious metal financing costs.

Define Sampling, Analysis, and Dispute-Resolution Procedures

Spent catalysts may have uneven moisture, uneven particle distribution, or localized precious metal enrichment. Representative sampling is often more important than the precision of a single instrument measurement.

Recovery terms should specify:

• How received weight is confirmed;
• How moisture or loss on ignition is measured;
• Whether drying, calcination, grinding, or homogenization is performed;
• How samples are collected;
• Whether the customer may witness sampling;
• Whether sealed retention samples are kept;
• How samples are split between the parties;
• Which method is used for precious metal analysis;
• Under what conditions a retest is initiated;
• Whether an independent arbitration laboratory is designated;
• When the final settlement result is confirmed.

Establish a Precious Metal Material Balance

A precious metal material balance can help identify filtration losses, equipment residues, recovery gaps, and long-term unrecognized metal losses.

Precious metal input = precious metal in fresh catalyst + added or returned precious metal

Traceable precious metal = precious metal in products and liquid phases + precious metal in recovered catalyst + precious metal in filtration and cleaning residues + known sampling losses

Precious metal discrepancy = precious metal input − traceable precious metal

Because sampling, analysis, and production residues involve measurement uncertainty, the material balance may not close completely for every batch.

A more useful approach is to monitor whether the discrepancy continues to widen over time and whether the change is associated with catalyst grade, filtration system, equipment cleaning, or the recovery process.

Supplier Approval Disqualification Criteria

The following issues should not be offset solely through an overall score. If they cannot be clarified, the supplier should generally not proceed directly to commercial approval:

1. The reporting basis for precious metal loading is unclear;
2. The relationship between ordered weight, invoiced weight, and delivered weight is unclear;
3. Sample origin, batch number, or manufacturing route cannot be traced;
4. The commercial batch uses a different support or manufacturing route from the approved sample;
5. The leaching acceptance limit is below the reliable quantitation capability of the existing analytical method;
6. The COA, specification, and actual delivery form are inconsistent;
7. Changes in key raw materials, supports, or processes are not subject to notification;
8. Precious metal ownership and recovery settlement responsibilities are unclear.

Supported Precious Metal Catalyst Supplier Evaluation Table

Ready-to-Use Procurement Checklist

Product Identity and Application

• Full product name;
• Active precious metal and applicable CAS number;
• Support name, grade, source, or model;
• Applicable CAS number for the support;
• Finished catalyst or supplier product code;
• Target reaction and primary substrate;
• Solvent, temperature, pressure, and acidic or alkaline conditions;
• Target conversion and selectivity;
• Current catalyst grade and dosage;
• Allowable precious metal residue in the product.

Specifications and Key Parameters

• Nominal precious metal loading;
• Precious metal acceptance range;
• Dry-basis, as-delivered, or another reporting basis;
• Ordered weight and pricing basis;
• Moisture or wetting-medium content;
• Reduced, unreduced, oxidized, sulfided, or other chemical state;
• Presence of selectivity modifiers, promoters, or stabilizers;
• Where required, precious metal purity or impurity grade;
• Support surface area and pore structure;
• Particle size, particle-size distribution, and fines fraction;
• Bulk density;
• Ash;
• Sulfur, halogens, iron, and other key impurities;
• Metal distribution pattern;
• Precious metal content analytical method;
• Moisture analytical method;
• Particle-size and key impurity analytical methods.

Sample and Scale-Up Validation

• Sample quantity;
• Sample batch number and COA;
• Whether the sample and commercial batch use the same manufacturing route;
• Control catalyst;
• Whether comparison is made at the same precious metal dosage;
• Conversion, reaction time, and selectivity;
• Precious metal utilization efficiency;
• Filtration time and filtrate appearance;
• Precious metal results before and after filtration;
• Precious metal residues in the product and wash liquid;
• Reuse and deactivation data;
• Pilot-scale or production equipment validation;
• Catalyst recovery quantity and precious metal material balance.

Batch and Documentation

• Data from multiple historical batches;
• Batch precious metal content;
• Batch moisture;
• Batch particle size and fines fraction;
• Batch activity and selectivity;
• Batch filtration performance;
• Batch precious metal residue in the product;
• Batch-specific COA;
• SDS/MSDS matching the actual delivery form;
• TDS;
• Formal product specification;
• Analytical method or method number;
• Change notification terms;
• Required export declarations and documents.

Packaging, Storage, and Transport

• Net package weight;
• Relationship among wet weight, dry weight, and invoiced weight;
• Packaging material and sealing method;
• Wetting medium;
• Whether inert gas is used;
• Recommended storage temperature;
• Storage and resealing requirements after opening;
• Shelf life and retest conditions;
• Transport classification;
• Applicable shipping name and identification number;
• Sea, air, or land transport conditions;
• Export documents;
• Destination country, city, and delivery location;
• Receiving and storage conditions at the destination warehouse.

Quantity, Price, and Trade Terms

• Sample quantity;
• Minimum order quantity;
• Trial-production quantity;
• Single commercial order quantity;
• Estimated annual demand;
• Packaging size;
• Precious metal price and pricing date;
• Catalyst processing fee;
• Quotation validity;
• Manufacturing and release lead time;
• Transport and customs-clearance time;
• Payment terms;
• Incoterms and named place;
• Currency and insurance responsibility;
• Handling of delayed delivery.

Precious Metal Management and Recovery

• Precious metal ownership;
• Whether customer-supplied metal, leasing, or a precious metal account is used;
• Types of recoverable spent catalyst;
• Whether filter cake, fines, waste liquid, and cleaning residues are included in recovery;
• Packaging and transport requirements for recovery materials;
• Received-weight confirmation method;
• Moisture or loss-on-ignition method;
• Pretreatment, homogenization, and sampling method;
• Sealed retention sample and sample-splitting rules;
• Precious metal analytical method;
• Retest and arbitration laboratory rules;
• Technical recovery rate;
• Payable percentage;
• Fixed deductions;
• Analytical, refining, and treatment fees;
• Settlement period;
• Precious metal return, account credit, or invoice-offset method.

Procurement Support Available from ChemicalCell

ChemicalCell can assist in matching supported precious metal catalyst information and coordinating supplier communication based on the target reaction, active precious metal, support, loading, product metal-residue requirement, and procurement quantity.

Support may include:

• Confirming candidate catalyst names, grades, and compositions;
• Coordinating information on loading basis, moisture, support, and chemical state;
• Assisting with requests for COA, SDS, TDS, and formal specifications;
• Coordinating sample quantities, commercial packaging, and delivery conditions;
• Confirming minimum order quantity, lead time, payment, and trade terms;
• Determining whether the supplier offers precious metal account or recovery arrangements.

Precious metal recovery and refining should be performed by organizations with the appropriate handling, transport, and compliance capabilities. Raising recovery requirements before commercial procurement helps clarify precious metal ownership, sampling and analysis, and settlement responsibilities.

FAQ

Why Can Catalysts with the Same Metal Loading Show Significantly Different Performance?

The same loading only indicates that the total amount of precious metal is similar. It does not mean that the metal particle size, pore location, surface chemical state, and accessibility to reactants are the same. The support, reduction method, metal distribution, and fines level may all affect actual activity, selectivity, and filtration performance.

Can Standard Activity Data Provided by the Supplier Replace Process Sample Validation?

No. Standard activity data can be used for initial screening, but the substrate, solvent, temperature, pressure, agitation, and endpoint definition may differ from the actual process. Commercial approval still requires validation under the target reaction conditions, including activity, selectivity, filtration performance, and metal residue.

How Should an Acceptance Limit Be Established When No Internal Leaching Limit Has Yet Been Defined?

A provisional control range can be established based on downstream product specifications, subsequent purification capability, customer requirements, analytical method capability, and data from the current process. The acceptance limit must be above the reliable quantitation capability of the analytical method, and the sampling point, filtration condition, and calculation basis must be clearly defined.

When Is a Separate Precious Metal Recovery Agreement Needed?

A separate agreement is generally needed when the catalyst is used continuously at commercial scale, the precious metal value is significant, the spent catalyst is handled by a third party, or the arrangement involves customer-supplied metal, leasing, or a precious metal account. The agreement should define the recovery scope, sampling, analysis, payable percentage, fees, and settlement period.

Is Commercial-Batch Revalidation Still Required After the Sample Has Passed?

Yes. A sample may come from stock, a laboratory batch, or a different production line. The commercial batch should at least be confirmed to use the same manufacturing route, support, loading basis, moisture condition, batch documentation, and key performance characteristics as the approved sample. High-risk projects may also require validation in production equipment.

RFQ Information

When submitting an inquiry for a supported precious metal catalyst, the following core information is recommended:

• Active precious metal and support;
• Target loading and reporting basis;
• Current catalyst grade;
• Target reaction and primary substrate;
• Current catalyst dosage;
• Target conversion and selectivity;
• Allowable precious metal residue in the product;
• Sample quantity;
• Commercial order quantity and estimated annual demand;
• Dry or wet delivery requirement;
• Packaging size;
• COA, SDS, TDS, and specification requirements;
• Destination country, city, and delivery location;
• Expected lead time;
• Payment and trade terms;
• Whether a precious metal account or spent catalyst recovery arrangement is required.

Providing complete information on reaction conditions, loading basis, sample requirements, and precious metal management helps reduce grade mismatches, inconsistent quotation bases, and later recovery disputes.