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UrduIn light of vehicular pollutants contributing to decreasing air quality, governments across the globe are posing stricter emission regulations for automobiles.
Tag: Catalysis
Light of transformation: Research explores the inner workings of chemical change
Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jennifer Hirschi recently received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for $1.93 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to study the mechanisms involved in catalytic reactions.
Entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory opens applications for startups
Chain Reaction Innovations, the entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory, is accepting applications for its next fellowship cohort.
Emerging Methods for Recycling Plastics Address Barriers, Opportunities
Understanding the fundamentals of these emerging technologies will help design improved systems for chemical recycling and upcycling of waste plastics.
Fueling your curiosity: Argonne answers top questions on hydrogen fuel
As part of National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, Argonne answers common questions surrounding hydrogen as an energy carrier.
Argonne researchers win four 2022 R&D 100 awards
R&D Magazine has recognized four Argonne projects with R&D 100 Awards.
Plastic Upcycling: From Waste to Fuel for Less
Plastic upcycling efficiently converts plastics to valuable commodity chemicals while using less of the precious metal ruthenium. The method could recycle waste plastic pollution into useful products, helping keep it out of landfills.
Enriching Science Education with Thin Films
Tiffany Kaspar’s work has advanced the discovery and understanding of oxide materials, helping develop electronics, quantum computing, and energy production. She strives to communicate her science to the public.
Washington State Academy of Sciences Adds Six PNNL Researchers
The Washington State Academy of Sciences added six people from PNNL to its 2022 class of inductees.
Found: The ‘holy grail of catalysis’ — turning methane into methanol under ambient conditions using light
An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of Manchester, has developed a fast and economical method of converting methane, or natural gas, into liquid methanol at ambient temperature and pressure. The method takes place under continuous flow over a photo-catalytic material using visible light to drive the conversion.
To help observe how the process works and how selective it is, the researchers used neutron scattering at the VISION instrument at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source.
Converting Methane to Methanol—With and Without Water
Adding water to the catalytic reaction that converts methane into useful methanol makes the process more effective, but it creates challenges for industry due to steam from the water. Now scientists have identified a common industrial catalyst, copper-zinc oxide, that completes the conversion along different pathways depending on whether water is present or not. This could potentially keep methane, a potent greenhouse gas, out of Earth’s atmosphere and instead turn it into useful products.
Chemical Institute of Canada Gives Top Honor to University of Oklahoma Engineering Professor
The 2022 Robert B. Anderson Catalysis Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada’s Catalysis Division was presented to University of Oklahoma engineering professor Daniel Resasco, Ph.D., for his research that deepens the understanding of chemical reactions in the production of sustainable energy.
Machine Learning Framework IDs Targets for Improving Catalysts
Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new machine-learning (ML) framework that can zero in on which steps of a multistep chemical conversion should be tweaked to improve productivity. The approach could help guide the design of catalysts — chemical “dealmakers” that speed up reactions.
Seeking Energy Frontiers
Morris Bullock has led PNNL’s pursuit of the efficient conversion of electrical energy and chemical bonds through control of electron and proton transfers.
Converting Methane to Methanol — With and Without Water
UPTON, NY — Chemists have been searching for efficient catalysts to convert methane — a major component of abundant natural gas — into methanol, an easily transported liquid fuel and building block for making other valuable chemicals. Adding water to the reaction can address certain challenges, but it also complicates the process.
Energy Secretary, Washington Governor Dedicate Energy Sciences Center at PNNL
Fundamental research conducted at the $90-million research facility will help the nation meet its clean energy goals.
Catalyst Study Advances Carbon-Dioxide-to-Ethanol Conversion
An international collaboration of scientists has taken a significant step toward the realization of a nearly “green” zero-net-carbon technology that will efficiently convert carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, and hydrogen into ethanol, which is useful as a fuel and has many other chemical applications.
Combining sunlight and wastewater nitrate to make the world’s No. 2 chemical
Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have created a solar-powered electrochemical reaction that not only uses wastewater to make ammonia — the second most-produced chemical in the world — but also achieves a solar-to-fuel efficiency that is 10 times better than any other comparable technology.
A new approach creates an exceptional single-atom catalyst for water splitting
Anchoring individual iridium atoms on the surface of a catalyst made them a lot better at splitting water – a reaction that’s been a bottleneck in making sustainable energy production more competitive.
To Reduce Vehicle Pollution, a Single Atom Can Do the Work of Several
A discovery from PNNL and Washington State University could help reduce the amount of expensive material needed to treat vehicle exhaust by making the most of every precious atom.
Scientists show a single catalyst can perform the first step of turning CO2 into fuel in two very different ways
Scientists at Stanford and SLAC made a new catalyst that works with either heat or electricity to accelerate a reaction for turning carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide. It’s an important step toward unifying the understanding of catalytic reactions in these two very different conditions.
Green Diesel for the Road Ahead
A new report led by PNNL identifies the top 13 most promising waste- and biomass-derived diesel blendstocks for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, other pollutants, and overall system costs.
Worldly Experience Is a Catalyst for Change
Bojana Ginovska leads a physical biosciences research team headed for PNNL’s new Energy Sciences Center. She uses the transformative power of molecular catalysis and enzymes to explore scientific principles.
Water Clusters Control Zeolite Reactivity
Computational results clarify the role water plays in the reactivity of a widely used class of porous oxide catalysts.
Energy for the Long Run
Physical chemist Marcel Baer brings meticulous care to understanding how energy moves through molecules.
First nanoscale look at a reaction that limits the efficiency of generating clean hydrogen fuel
Transitioning to a hydrogen economy will require massive production of cheap, clean hydrogen gas for fuel and chemical feedstocks. New tools allow scientists to zoom in on a catalytic reaction that’s been a bottleneck in efforts to generate hydrogen from water more efficiently.
Energy on Demand: Learning from Nature’s Catalysts
With quantum chemistry, PNNL scientists are discovering how enzymes such as nitrogenase serve as natural catalysts that efficiently break apart molecular bonds to control energy and matter.
Plastics recycling expert available: Massimiliano Delferro, Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne chemist Max Delferro’s research focuses on chemical recycling and upcycling of plastic that would mitigate global plastic pollution. He leads a team that developed several new methods for converting discarded plastics into higher quality commodities such as lubricant oils…
8 Things Argonne is Doing to Save the Earth
Stepping into their superhero gear, Argonne scientists are using science and the world’s best technology to combat some of Earth’s toughest foes, from pollution to climate change.
Finding What Makes Catalysts Tick
Computational chemist Samantha Johnson, who is searching for combinations to bolster energy future, is among the PNNL scientists preparing to move into the Energy Sciences Center. The new $90 million, 140,000-square-foot facility, is under construction on the PNNL campus and will accelerate innovation in energy research using chemistry, materials science, and quantum information sciences to support the nation’s climate and clean energy research agenda.
Novel Catalyst Means Ammonia Synthesis with Less Heat and Pressure
Neutron scattering has unveiled new insights into the performance of a novel metal catalyst used to convert nitrogen into ammonia. The key discovery is that the hydrogen atoms on the surface of the material—not caged inside the catalyst—play the most significant role in the ammonia synthesis. The material catalyzes ammonia synthesis with significantly less energy than the traditional iron-based catalysts.
Biocrude Passes the 2,000-hour Catalyst Stability Test
A large-scale demonstration converting biocrude to renewable diesel fuel has passed a significant test, operating for more than 2,000 hours continuously without losing effectiveness.
Paul Dauenhauer: Then and Now / 2011 Early Career Award Winner
Paul Dauenhauer leads a group that has developed a new catalytic reactor that permits investigation of the precise energetics of biopolymer deconstruction. Key transitions in non-food biomass activation can now be observed, with implications for fuels, chemicals, and materials synthesis.
New Clean Energy Process Converts Methane to Hydrogen with Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions
PNNL, teaming with academia and industry, develops a novel zero-emission methane pyrolysis process that produces both hydrogen and high-value carbon solids.
Argonne innovations and technology to help drive circular economy
In a collaborative effort to “recover, recycle and reuse,” Argonne strengthens research that addresses pollution, greenhouse gases and climate change and aligns with new policies for carbon emission reduction.
Chemistry Goes Under Cover
Scientists have discovered that physically confined spaces can make for more efficient chemical reactions.
The Right Stuff to Find the Right Materials
As he prepares to enter PNNL’s Energy Sciences Center later this year, Vijayakumar ‘Vijay’ Murugesan is among DOE researchers exploring solutions to design and build transformative materials for batteries of the future.
PNNL Energy Sciences Center Will Help Realize Clean Energy Future
New 140,000-square-foot facility will advance fundamental chemistry and materials science for higher-performing, cost-effective catalysts and batteries, and other energy efficiency technologies.
Study Reveals Platinum’s Role in Clean Fuel Conversion
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University (SBU), and other collaborating institutions have uncovered dynamic, atomic-level details of how an important platinum-based catalyst works in the water gas shift reaction. The experiments provide definitive evidence that only certain platinum atoms play an important role in the chemical conversion, and could therefore guide the design of catalysts that use less of this precious metal.
Study shows tweaking one layer of atoms on a catalyst’s surface can make it work better
When an LNO catalyst with a nickel-rich surface carries out a water-splitting reaction, its surface atoms rearrange from a cubic to a hexagonal pattern and its efficiency doubles. Deliberately engineering the surface to take advantage of this phenomenon offers a way to design better catalysts.
Better together: Scientists discover far-reaching applications of nanoparticles made of multiple elements
As catalysts for fuel cells, batteries and processes for carbon dioxide reduction, alloy nanoparticles that are made up of five or more elements are shown to be more stable and durable than single-element nanoparticles.
Striking gold: Advanced Photon Source enables catalysis research at small scales
By examining tiny particles of gold with powerful X-ray beams, scientists hope they can learn how to cut down on harmful carbon monoxide emissions from motor vehicles.
Stronger Cobalt for Fuel Cells
A multi-institutional effort led to the design of a highly active and more durable catalyst made from cobalt, which sets the foundation for fuel cells to power transportation, stationary and backup power, and more.
The Motivation for Sustainable Aviation Fuels
A new report outlines future research paths that are needed for airlines to reduce carbon emissions and notes that the only way to achieve emission reduction goals is with Sustainable Aviation Fuels.
Machine Learning Advances Materials for Separations, Adsorption, and Catalysis
An artificial intelligence technique — machine learning — is helping accelerate the development of highly tunable materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that have important applications in chemical separations, adsorption, catalysis, and sensing.
Alloy-Forming Duo Unites to Amp Up Possibilities for Ethanol
Scientists have developed a novel catalyst that converts pure ethanol into a highly valued class of alcohols that can serve as building blocks for everything from solvents to jet fuel.
From Blooms to Biocrude
PNNL researchers are contributing expertise and hydrothermal liquefaction technology to a project that intercepts toxic algae blooms from water, treats the water, and concentrates algae for transformation to biocrude.
PNNL Gets X-Ray Vision
For the past year, three small-scale x-ray spectroscopy devices tucked away at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have begun to dramatically speed up the testing and analysis of candidate novel materials used in energy storage research and environmental remediation. They are also expected to reduce the number of expensive off-site research trips.
A first-of-its-kind catalyst mimics natural processes to break down plastic and produce valuable new products
A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has developed a first-of-its-kind catalyst that is able to process polyolefin plastics, types of polymers widely used in things like plastic grocery bags, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, toys, and food containers.
Not Your Average Refinery
PNNL researchers outline how to convert stranded biomass to sustainable fuel using electrochemical reduction reactions in mini-refineries powered by renewable energy.