Chemistry & Catalysis
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SUNCAT Director Jens Nørskov Awarded 2015 Langmuir Prize
The SLAC and Stanford professor and SUNCAT director is being honored for groundbreaking work in catalysis, which promotes chemical reactions in thousands of industrial processes.
Research Pinpoints Role of 'Helper' Atoms in Oxygen Release
Experiments at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory solve a long-standing mystery in the role calcium atoms serve in a chemical reaction that releases oxygen into the air we breathe.
Study Sheds New Light on Why Batteries Go Bad
A comprehensive look at how tiny particles in a lithium ion battery electrode behave shows that rapid-charging the battery and using it to do high-power, rapidly draining work may not be as damaging as researchers had thought – and that the benefits of slow draining and charging may have been overestimated.
Stanford Engineers Help Describe Key Mechanism in Energy and Information Storage
By observing how hydrogen is absorbed into individual palladium nanocubes, Stanford materials scientists have detailed a key step in storing energy and information in nanomaterials.
Researcher Wins X-ray Science Award for SSRL Work Aiding Chemistry Studies
A postdoctoral researcher, whose work at SLAC's synchrotron was key in adapting an X-ray technique to probe chemical bonds in new ways, will receive an annual scientific award.
X-ray Laser Probes Tiny Quantum Tornadoes in Superfluid Droplets
An experiment revealed a well-organized 3-D grid of quantum "tornadoes" inside microscopic droplets of supercooled liquid helium – the first time this formation has been seen at such a tiny scale.
Catching Chemistry in Motion
SLAC researchers have developed a laser-timing system that could lead to X-ray snapshots fast enough to reveal the triggers of chemical and material reactions.
Stanford, SIMES Get Closer to a Pure Lithium Anode Battery Design
Researchers have taken a big step toward accomplishing what battery designers have been trying to do for decades – design a pure lithium anode.
New Platinum Alloy Shows Promise as Fuel Cell Catalyst
Scientists at SLAC and in Denmark have developed an alternative fuel cell catalyst that’s five times more active than pure platinum and uses much less of the expensive metal.
X-ray Laser Measures Leaping Electrons
In an experiment at SLAC's X-ray laser, scientists split molecules into two fragments using pulses of infrared light, and then used X-ray pulses to observe the transfer of electrons.
