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.

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.
News Feature

This summer, five graduate students from the University of Puerto Rico had the opportunity to use SLAC’s world-class facilities to keep their studies on...

University of Puerto Rico Interns
News Feature

A SLAC-Stanford study reveals exactly what it takes for diamond to crystallize around a “seed” cluster of atoms. The results apply to industrial processes...

Illustration of diamondoid and diamond crystals