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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

An all-day symposium recognized the professor emeritus for his many contributions to the scientific community, from pioneering synchrotron radiation research at SSRL to making...

News Feature

X-ray research on 80-million-year-old fossilized burrows, likely the work of tiny marine worms, is helping scientists understand how living organisms affected the chemistry of...

Image - This marine worm, commonly known as a ragworm, can grow up to 4 inches in length. It is part of a class of worms known as polychaetes. A far smaller variety of polychaetes was likely responsible for creating ancient burrows studied at SLAC.
News Feature

A researcher who performed a variety of X-ray experiments at SLAC’s synchrotron will receive an annual scientific award during a SLAC conference next month.

Feng Lin
Press Release

Understanding Motions of Thin Layers May Help Design Solar Cells, Electronics and Catalysts of the Future

a three-atom-thick layer of a promising material as it wrinkles in response to a laser pulse
News Feature

SUNCAT and SIMES researchers have received funding from Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project to support research related to generating renewable fuels.

News Feature

Ultrafast Electron Diffraction Reveals Rapid Motions of Atoms and Molecules

News Feature

In separate studies, researchers at Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison report advances on chemical reactions essential to fuel-cell technology.

Press Release

Scientists for the first time tracked ultrafast structural changes, captured in quadrillionths-of-a-second steps, as ring-shaped gas molecules burst open and unraveled.

Image - This illustration shows shape changes that occur in quadrillionths-of-a-second intervals in a ring-shaped molecule that was broken open by light. (SLAC)
Press Release

Researchers discovered that adding two chemicals to the electrolyte of a lithium metal battery prevents the formation of dendrites – “fingers” of lithium that...

Image - concept of dendrites v pancakes
News Feature

SLAC and the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis supported creation of a new carbon material that significantly improves the performance of batteries...

News Feature

An experiment at SLAC’s X-ray laser provides new insight into the ultrafast motions of a muscle protein in a basic biochemical reaction.

Computerized rendering of 3-D structure of myoglobin. The jagged green line represents a pulse of la
News Feature

Scientists at SLAC and Utrecht University have identified how catalysts degrade when used to refine crude oil.

Image - Research at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory could lead to more efficient gasoline production. (@iStockphoto/Patryk Kosmider)