SLAC topics

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.

Past Event
Register here to watch in person in the  Kavli Auditorium,  or watch the lecture live on our YouTube page. Plants draw energy for all...
public lecture poster illustration of electrons going over a bridge
Video

Public Lecture presented by Elizabeth Ryland

Stillframe image for public lecture featuring Elizabeth Ryland
Video
Public Lecture Poster
Elizabeth Ryland Public Lecture poster

Scientists at SLAC observe chemical reactions in unprecedented detail and find ways to make them more efficient, with the goal of using chemistry to help solve the nation’s energy challenges.

Liquids getting vaporized by the world's brightest X-ray laser
News Brief

The team reduced the amount of expensive platinum group metals needed to make an effective cell and found a new way to test future...

An illustration of a thin film resembling dry, cracked earth.
News Brief

The American Physical Society recognized the SLAC and Stanford physicist for decades of groundbreaking work studying the strange behavior of electrons at the interfaces...

Photo - Harold Hwang
Video
Public lecture presented by Siqi Li
stillframe image from public lecture: clocking electrons
Video
Press Release

With up to a million X-ray flashes per second, 8,000 times more than its predecessor, it transforms the ability of scientists to explore atomic-scale...

LCLS-II first light
News Feature

SLAC scientists showed that a carbon-metal compound with a perfectly placed nickel atom plays a key role in converting carbon dioxide into components for...

A multicolored diagram of a molecule.
News Feature

Researchers demonstrate a way to remove the potent greenhouse gas from the exhaust of engines that burn natural gas.  

Illustration of bubbles of methane on surface of catalyst
News Feature

The results should further our understanding of similar reactions with vital roles in chemistry, such as the production of vitamin D in our bodies.

UED transition state
Press Release

After decades of effort, scientists have finally seen the process by which nature creates the oxygen we breathe using SLAC’s X-ray laser.

Photosystem II