News tagged with metal catalyst

Cheap, abundant cathode material found for producing hydrogen fuel (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- By replacing catalysts made of expensive noble metals like platinum with cheaper, earth-abundant materials, researchers have taken a step toward enabling the large-scale production of hydrogen ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 10, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (22) | comments 60 | with audio podcast feature

Hybrid copper-gold nanoparticles convert CO2

Copper -- the stuff of pennies and tea kettles -- is also one of the few metals that can turn carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuels with relatively little energy. When fashioned into an electrode and stimulated ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 7 | 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

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

Research demonstrates method that allows inexpensive carbon materials to store hydrogen at room temperature

Hydrogen has long been considered a promising alternative to fossil fuels for powering cars, trucks and even homes. But one major obstacle has been finding lightweight, robust and inexpensive ways of storing the gas, whose ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Sep 19, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

Metal particle generates new hope for H2 energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny metallic particles produced by University of Adelaide chemistry researchers are bringing new hope for the production of cheap, efficient and clean hydrogen energy.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jun 28, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (13) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

A paperweight for platinum: Bracing catalyst in material makes fuel cell component work better, last longer

A new combination of nanoparticles and graphene results in a more durable catalytic material for fuel cells, according to work published today online at the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The catalytic ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Feb 09, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

A greener way to grow carbon nanotubes

Given their size, strength and electrical properties, carbon nanotubes — tiny, hollow cylinders made of carbon atoms — hold promise for a range of applications in electronics, medicine and other ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 10, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover less expensive low-temperature catalyst for hydrogen purification

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers from Tufts University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard University have demonstrated the low-temperature efficacy of an atomically dispersed platinum catalyst, which ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Sep 23, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Crystal defect shown to be key to making hollow nanotubes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have no problem making a menagerie of nanometer-sized objects -- wires, tubes, belts, and even tree-like structures. What they sometimes have been unable to do is explain precisely ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 22, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A step toward lighter batteries: Metal catalysts play important role in improving efficiency

A team of researchers at MIT has made significant progress on a technology that could lead to batteries with up to three times the energy density of any battery that currently exists.

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Apr 02, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New process yields high-energy-density, plant-based transportation fuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers has developed a highly efficient, environmentally friendly process that selectively converts gamma-valerolactone, a biomass derivative, into the chemical ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 25, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (14) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers develop cheap, easy 'kitchen chemistry' to perform formerly complex synthesis

A team at The Scripps Research Institute has made major strides in solving a problem that has been plaguing chemists for many years: how best to break carbon-hydrogen bonds and then to create new bonds to join molecules together. ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 0

How Size Matters For Catalysts: Study Links Size, Activity, Electronic Properties

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Utah chemists demonstrated the first conclusive link between the size of catalyst particles on a solid surface, their electronic properties and their ability to speed chemical ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Researchers make key step towards turning methane gas into liquid fuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Washington and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have taken an important step in converting methane gas to a liquid, potentially making it more useful as a fuel ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (8) | comments 1