Pouring fire on fuels at the nanoscale

There are no magic bullets for global energy needs. But fuel cells in which electrical energy is harnessed directly from live, self-sustaining chemical reactions promise cheaper alternatives to fossil fuels.

Substrates change nanoparticle reactivity

(Phys.org)—Nanoscale materials tend to behave differently than their bulk counterparts. While there are many theories as to why this happens, technological advances in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) have allowed researchers ...

Nanoparticles for clean drinking water

One way of removing harmful nitrate from drinking water is to catalyse its conversion to nitrogen. This process suffers from the drawback that it often produces ammonia. By using palladium nanoparticles as a catalyst, and ...

Simulating the invisible

Panagiotis Grammatikopoulos in the OIST Nanoparticles by Design Unit simulates the interactions of particles that are too small to see, and too complicated to visualize. In order to study the particles' behavior, he uses ...

Unexpected behavior of well-known catalysts

Industrial palladium-copper catalysts change their structures before they get to work, already during the activation process. As a result, the reaction is catalysed by a catalyst that is different from the one originally ...

A greener path for the production of a vital chemical

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nanoparticles of gold and palladium (Au-Pd) could lead to a more efficient and environmentally friendly way of producing benzyl benzoate, a chemical compound used widely in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical ...

Metal-mining bacteria are green chemists

Microbes could soon be used to convert metallic wastes into high-value catalysts for generating clean energy, say scientists writing in the September issue of Microbiology.

Dutch researcher develops catalysts for clean drinking water

Jitendra Kumar Chinthaginjala of the University of Twente, The Netherlands, has developed a catalyst that can efficiently remove nitrite and nitrate from drinking water. These two toxic substances are increasingly found in ...

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