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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

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
News Feature

Stanford and SLAC engineers observed electrons at work during catalytic reactions. Their findings challenge long-held theories about some catalysts, opening the door to new...

News Feature

More than a dozen energy-storage companies have streamlined access to research facilities and expertise at SLAC under a new cooperative R&D agreement with CalCharge.

In this lecture, SLAC’s Ryan Coffee explains how researchers are beginning to use pattern recognition and machine learning to study chemical reactions at the...

News Feature

The SLAC and Stanford professor and SUNCAT director is being honored for groundbreaking work in catalysis, which promotes chemical reactions in thousands of industrial...

News Feature

System Studied at SLAC's Synchrotron Mimics Steps in Photosynthesis

Image - This illustration of a model molecular complex mimics the final step in the cycle of photosynthesis: oxygen release.
Press Release

Rapid Charging and Draining Doesn’t Damage Lithium Ion Electrode as Much as Thought

Photo - battery cycler
News Feature

By observing how hydrogen is absorbed into individual palladium nanocubes, Stanford materials scientists have detailed a key step in storing energy and information in...

News Feature

Chris Pollock Adapted Technique to Study Biomolecules in More Detail

Image - Chris Pollock monitors an experiment at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. (Courtesy of Chris Pollock)