Trash to treasure – researchers turn metal waste into catalyst for hydrogen

18-Apr-2024 - Scientists have found a way to transform metal waste into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that could make hydrogen production more sustainable. A team of researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry and Faculty of Engineering have found ...

Breaking the black box of catalytic reactions

Research offers new understanding of complex catalysis, advances catalyst design

28-Feb-2022 - Many of the catalytic reactions that drive our modern world happen in an atomic black box. Scientists know all the components that go into a reaction, but not how they interact at an atomic level. Understanding the reaction pathways and kinetics of catalytic reactions at the atomic scale is ...

Gold solution to catalysis grand challenge

Researchers demonstrate the suitability of gold as a catalyst to produce methanol and acetic acid from the methane in natural gas

10-Jan-2022 - A simple, low-cost method of directly converting natural gas into useful chemicals and fuels, using the precious metal gold as a key ingredient, has been proposed by researchers at Cardiff University in collaboration with researchers in Lehigh University, USA and the National Centre for Magnetic ...

Understanding enzyme evolution paves the way for green chemistry

How evolution makes designer enzymes more powerful, paving the way to tailor-made catalysts

26-Aug-2021 - Researchers at the University of Bristol have shown how laboratory evolution can give rise to highly efficient enzymes for new-to-nature reactions, opening the door for novel and more environmentally friendly ways to make drugs and other chemicals. Scientists have previously designed protein ...

Breaking the rules of chemistry unlocks new reaction

Scientists have broken the rules of enzyme engineering to unlock a new method for creating chemical reactions that could unlock a wide range of new applications - from creating new drugs to food production

03-Dec-2020 - In their paper published in Nature Catalysis, Professor Francesca Paradisi and Dr. Martina Contente of the University of Nottingham and the University of Bern show a new method to produce chemical molecules more efficiently through a new one step reaction in the enzyme. Professor Paradis is ...

New material for longer-lasting fuel cells developed

New research suggests that graphene - made in a specific way - could be used to make more durable hydrogen fuel cells for cars

24-Jul-2020 - In the study, published in the journal Nanoscale, scientists produced graphene via a special, scalable technique and used it to develop hydrogen fuel cell catalysts. The research team, involving scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College London (UCL), showed that this ...

Catalytic protocells get zingy

10-Jan-2020 - Artificial cells capable of oxygen gas production and chemical signalling have been prepared using a combination of synthetic and biological catalysts through an international collaboration between the University of Bristol and the University of Padua in Italy. From the synthesis of drugs to the ...

Chemicals for pharmaceuticals could be made cheaper and greener by new catalysts

04-Oct-2019 - High value chemicals used to make pharmaceuticals could be made much cheaper and quicker thanks to a series of new catalysts made by scientists at the University of Warwick in collaboration with GoldenKeys High-Tech Co., Ltd. in China. The process of making high-value chemicals for uses such as ...

Scientists create the world's thinnest gold

08-Aug-2019 - Scientists at the University of Leeds have created a new form of gold which is just two atoms thick - the thinnest unsupported gold ever created. The researchers measured the thickness of the gold to be 0.47 nanometres - that is one million times thinner than a human finger nail. The material is ...

A highly active organic photocatalyst

05-Oct-2018 - Scientists from the University of Liverpool, University College London and East China University of Science and Technology have synthesized a new organic material that can convert water into hydrogen fuel using sunlight. Photocatalytic solar hydrogen production--or water splitting--offers an ...