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Chemistry and catalysis RSS feed

Catalysts are the unsung heroes of chemistry, accelerating reactions used to make fertilizers, fuels and consumer products. Our work aims to make catalysts more efficient and reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Energy sciences

Depiction of four techniques used to study a single-atom catalyst.

News Feature

SUNCAT and SIMES researchers have received funding from Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project to support research related to generating renewable fuels.

News Feature

Ultrafast Electron Diffraction Reveals Rapid Motions of Atoms and Molecules

News Feature

In separate studies, researchers at Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison report advances on chemical reactions essential to fuel-cell technology.

Press Release

Scientists for the first time tracked ultrafast structural changes, captured in quadrillionths-of-a-second steps, as ring-shaped gas molecules burst open and unraveled.

Image - This illustration shows shape changes that occur in quadrillionths-of-a-second intervals in a ring-shaped molecule that was broken open by light. (SLAC)
Press Release

Researchers discovered that adding two chemicals to the electrolyte of a lithium metal battery prevents the formation of dendrites – “fingers” of lithium that...

Image - concept of dendrites v pancakes
News Feature

SLAC and the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis supported creation of a new carbon material that significantly improves the performance of batteries...

News Feature

An experiment at SLAC’s X-ray laser provides new insight into the ultrafast motions of a muscle protein in a basic biochemical reaction.

Computerized rendering of 3-D structure of myoglobin. The jagged green line represents a pulse of la
News Feature

Scientists at SLAC and Utrecht University have identified how catalysts degrade when used to refine crude oil.

Image - Research at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory could lead to more efficient gasoline production. (@iStockphoto/Patryk Kosmider)
News Feature

Researchers use X-ray laser at SLAC to track light-triggered chemical reactions in a molecule that serves as a simple model for the conversion of...

IMAGE - Artistic rendering of a molecule severed by laser light, with a separate molecule (bottom right) from a solvent rushing in to bond with the just-split molecule. (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Press Release

Scientists have used an X-ray laser at SLAC to get the first glimpse of the transition state where two atoms begin to form a...

Illustration of a transition state in a chemical reaction.
News Feature

Jens Nørskov, director of the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis at Stanford and SLAC, has been named a member of the National...

News Feature

Scientists have assembled an exotic toolbox for experiments that tap into the brightest X-rays on the planet.

Image - This illustration shows a cutaway view of a type of sample system used at the Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser that jets samples in a superthin liquid or gel stream into its X-ray pulses. This system is known as a gas dynamic virtual nozzle