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.

News Feature

Stanford researcher Thomas F. Jaramillo has been named SUNCAT’s new deputy director for experiments. He succeeds SLAC’s Anders Nilsson.

Illustration

X-ray laser pulses probe water droplets like these to discover water’s hidden (and sometimes bizarre) properties. 

X-ray laser pulses probe water droplets like these to discover water’s hidden (and sometimes bizarre) properties.
Press Release

Scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have made the first structural observations of liquid water at temperatures down to minus...

Artist's concept - see caption
News Feature

Given a year to mature, the Institute for Chemical Biology is relaunching under a new name that better reflects its vision of bringing Stanford's...

News Feature

Five years ago, the brightest source of X-rays on the planet lit up at SLAC. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser's scientific...

Image - Some of the LCLS team members stand by the newly installed undulators in this 2009 photo. From right: Mike Zurawel, Geoff Pile from Argonne National Laboratory, Paul Emma, Dave Schultz, Heinz-Dieter Nuhn and Don Schafer. (Brad Plummer)
News Feature

Created by scientists from Stanford, SLAC and Denmark, the new nickel-gallium catalyst converts carbon dioxide emissions into an important industrial chemical and potential fuel

Jens Norskov
News Feature

A 2-ton instrument the size of a compact car, now available at SLAC's X-ray laser, makes it possible to capture more detailed images of...

Photo - A view of the LAMP instrument at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser. (SLAC)
News Feature

A discovery by SLAC researchers into how chemical reactions take place on a platinum catalyst could lead to more efficient, less costly fuel cells.

Photo – SLAC researchers Hernan Sanchez Casalongue (left) and Hirohito Ogasawara
Press Release

A study shows for the first time that X-ray lasers can be used to generate a complete 3-D model of a protein without any...

See caption
Press Release

A single layer of tin atoms could be the world’s first material to conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency at the temperatures that computer...

Photo - tin can and piece of scrap tin sitting on a periodic table of elements with tin "Sn" highlighted
Press Release

The ultrafast, ultrabright X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) have enabled unprecedented views of a catalyst in action, an important step...

Artist rendition: molecules react with the surface of a catalyst in real time
News Feature

Since 2009, SLAC scientist John Bargar has led a team using synchrotron-based X-ray techniques to study bacteria that help clean uranium from groundwater in...

Photo - Sam Webb, John Bargar and Juan Lezama-Pacheco...