News tagged with chemical catalysts

New CO2-removing catalyst can take the heat

(Phys.org) -- The current method of removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from the flues of coal-fired power plants uses so much energy that no one bothers to use it. So says Roger Aines, principal ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 24, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 19 | with audio podcast

Planned coincidence: Antibody-based search for new chemical reactions

(Phys.org) -- Many discoveries are made by chance, but it is also possible to help it along: The chance of finding something interesting increases when the number of experiments rises. French researchers have ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Tunable' metal nanostructures for fuel cells, batteries and solar energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- For catalysts in fuel cells and electrodes in batteries, engineers would like to manufacture metal films that are porous, to make more surface area available for chemical reactions, and highly ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 03, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Discovery of new catalyst promises cheaper, greener drugs

A chemistry team at the University of Toronto has discovered environmentally-friendly iron-based nanoparticle catalysts that work as well as the expensive, toxic, metal-based catalysts that are currently in wide use by the ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Rational design can improve hydrogen fuel cell efficiency

(PhysOrg.com) -- Hydrogen fuel cells, in which the chemical energy of hydrogen is converted into electricity, offer the potential for a wide variety of applications, especially in transportation and power ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 29, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (12) | comments 0 | with audio podcast feature

Breakthrough in designing cheaper, more efficient catalysts for fuel cells

University of California, Berkeley, chemists are reimagining catalysts in ways that could have a profound impact on the chemical industry as well as on the growing market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 23, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

To make better fuel cells, study the defects

Engineers trying to improve fuel-cell catalysts may be looking in the wrong place, according to new research at Cornell.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Feb 20, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New metal catalyst drives hydrogen fuel reaction forwards and backwards

(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to driving hydrogen production, a new catalyst built at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory can do what was previously shown to happen only in nature: store energy in hydrogen and release ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Quantum biology and Ockham's razor

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a paper just published in Nature Chemistry, a team of University of Bristol scientists explores whether new models or concepts are needed to tackle one of the 'grand challenges' of che ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Foldit gamers improve protein design through crowdsourcing

(PhysOrg.com) -- Gamers on Foldit have succeeded in improving the catalyst abilities of an enzyme, making it 18-fold more active than the original version. The idea is the brainchild of University of Washington ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Chemistry professor developing sustainable bioplastics

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Colorado State University chemistry professor has developed several patent-pending chemical processes that would create sustainable bioplastics from renewable resources for use on everything ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Longer-lasting chemical catalysts

Metal-based chemical catalysts have excellent green chemistry credentials—in principle at least. In theory, catalysts are reusable because they drive chemical reactions without being consumed. In reality, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover a way to significantly reduce the production costs of fuel cells

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have developed a new and significantly cheaper method of manufacturing fuel cells. A noble metal nanoparticle catalyst for fuel cells is prepared using atomic layer ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Dec 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Porous crystals for natural gas storage

(PhysOrg.com) -- Porous crystals called metal-organic frameworks, with their nanoscopic pores and incredibly high surface areas, are excellent materials for natural gas storage. But with millions of different ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Highly selective catalyst developed for ring-closing olefin metathesis

Research carried out at Boston College, in collaboration with scientists at MIT and the University of Oxford, has led to the development of an efficient and highly selective catalyst for ring-closing olefin metathesis, one ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 02, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast