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

Scientists precisely control where single-atom catalysts sit on their support structures, and show how changing their position affects their reactivity.

News Feature

A new method could be used to look at chemical reactions that other techniques can’t catch, for instance in catalysis, photovoltaics, peptide and combustion...

molecule
Press Release

First direct look at how atoms move when a ring-shaped molecule breaks apart could boost our understanding of fundamental processes of life.

Molecular Movie in HD Art
News Feature

In the decade since LCLS produced its first light, it has pushed boundaries in countless areas of discovery.

Undulator Hall
News Feature

Researchers will use SLAC’s X-ray light source to probe 150-million-year-old dinosaur fossils at the atomic level.

Jurassic Mile
News Feature

A better understanding of these systems will aid in developing next-generation energy technologies.

synchronized molecules
News Feature

New research offers the first complete picture of why a promising approach of stuffing more lithium into battery cathodes leads to their failure. A...

high capacity batteries
News Feature

Detailed observations of iridium atoms at work could help make catalysts that drive chemical reactions smaller, cheaper and more efficient.

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

New research will help in the quest to design low-cost drugs that can tackle postpartum bleeding and other conditions without severe side effects.

Misoprostol and EP3 receptor
News Feature

Researchers mapped trace elements within Pleistocene fossils to learn about the life of a long-extinct subspecies of spotted hyena.

Spotted hyena
Press Release

In a major step forward, SLAC’s X-ray laser captures all four stable states of the process that produces the oxygen we breathe, as well...

Atomic movie
News Feature

A new study is a step forward in understanding why perovskite materials work so well in energy devices and potentially leads the way toward...

Scattered neutrons off perovskite material.