LND topic: catalysis page 1

catalysis

Breaking the Pattern: A New Platinum Alloy for Cleaner Fuel Cells

April 1, 2026

A team of scientists created a special platinum alloy that breaks the usual symmetry seen in metals. By mixing platinum with iron, cobalt and copper, they made the atoms line up unevenly and stretch in different directions. This irregular arrangement adds more nearby metal atoms around each platinum

science

Self‑Sustaining Solar Cleaner: Light‑Powered Water Oxidation

February 10, 2026

A new material, made by coating tiny beads of a resin with a conductive polymer, can turn sunlight into a powerful cleaning agent. The resin bead is called resorcinol‑formaldehyde and the polymer is polypyrrole. When light hits this combo, it grabs electrons from water and releases oxygen‑based mole

science

How Tiny Metal Balls Help Turn Alcohol into Useful Stuff

January 12, 2026

Scientists have been playing around with tiny bits of metal called nanoparticles. These little guys are super small, like a billionth of a meter small! They've been trying to figure out how to make these nanoparticles work better for turning alcohol into other useful stuff. They started with a base

science

Turning Trash into Treasure: A New Way to Recycle Plastic

January 7, 2026

Plastic waste is a big problem. It's everywhere. In our homes, in our streets, and even in our oceans. By 2050, there could be 40 billion tons of plastic waste in the oceans. That's a huge amount! So, finding ways to recycle plastic is really important. Scientists have found a new way to recycle po

science

A New Way to Build Molecules with Precision

December 24, 2025

Scientists have found a clever way to build complex molecules with high precision. They used a common chemical group, called a carboxylate, to guide the process. Normally, this group isn't very good at controlling the shape of the final molecule, but the researchers found a way around this problem. ...

science

Clean Air Breakthrough: How Copper Helps Remove Harmful Gases

December 22, 2025

In chip factories, there's a big problem. Two gases, ethyl acetate and ozone, are often found together. Ethyl acetate is in high amounts, while ozone is in low amounts. Getting rid of both at the same time is tough. But now, there's a new way to do it. Scientists used a special material called Cu-B

science

Rare-Earth Oxides: A New Hope for Clean Water and Energy

December 22, 2025

Rare-earth oxides (REO x ) are stepping into the spotlight. They are being tested for their ability to clean up water and create hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). This is big news because current methods have problems. They can corrode, dissolve, or are just not very good at their job. Plus, they

science

Boosting Battery Performance with a Smart Catalyst Mix

December 20, 2025

Researchers have found a way to make rechargeable zinc-air batteries last longer and work better. They did this by mixing a special catalyst with a smart helper called CeO2. The catalyst, made of iron and cobalt atoms, is good at helping oxygen reactions. But it has problems. It wears out too fast a

science

Tiny Metal Particles Team Up for Big Tasks

December 20, 2025

Scientists have found a clever way to stick tiny metal particles onto even tinier plastic beads. This isn't just any random sticking together. It's a carefully planned process that happens super fast. The metal particles are like little helpers that can do two big things: speed up chemical reactions

science

Shining a Light on New Chemistry: Rhodium's Red and Orange Breakthrough

November 20, 2025

Chemists have long relied on transition metals to speed up reactions. Now, they're using light to make these reactions even better. Most of the time, they use short-wavelength light like purple or blue. But there's a catch. Long-wavelength light, like red and orange, is gentler and can go deeper. Ye