How catalysts remove dangerous nitrogen oxides

”If we know exactly where the reaction takes place, the production of catalysts can be controlled accordingly”

11-Oct-2024 - Catalysts belonging to the zeolite family help to remove toxic nitrogen oxides from industrial emissions. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have now discovered that their complex nano porous structure is crucial. Specifically, individual iron atoms sitting in certain neighbouring ...

Semiconductors Combine Forces in Photocatalysis

Active photocatalyst: 2D/2D heterojunction of black phosphorus and bismuth tungstate

29-Jan-2019 - A significant advance in the photocatalytic activity of conventional materials is demonstrated by a two-dimensional heterostructure comprising nanolayers of two semiconductors: black phosphorus and bismuth tungstate. As researchers have reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, this catalyst ...

A fresh role for nitric oxide

20-Jul-2017 - Cornell University chemists have uncovered a fresh role for nitric oxide that could send biochemical textbooks back for revision. They have identified a critical step in the nitrification process, which is partly responsible for agricultural emissions of harmful nitrous oxide and its chemical ...

A new way to trap dangerous gases

15-Dec-2016 - A team of researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas has developed a novel method for trapping potentially harmful gases within microscopic organo-metallic structures. These metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, are made of different building blocks composed of metal ion centers and organic ...

Nanobionic spinach plants can detect explosives

After sensing dangerous chemicals, the carbon-nanotube-enhanced plants send an alert.

01-Nov-2016 - Spinach is no longer just a superfood: By embedding leaves with carbon nanotubes, MIT engineers have transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives and wirelessly relay that information to a handheld device similar to a smartphone. This is one of the first demonstrations of ...

Soil crusts emit nitrogen oxides and nitrous acid

Study shows that biological soil crusts release large quantities of reactive nitrogen compounds

03-Dec-2015 - For a long time now, researchers have been racking their brains over the large quantities of reactive nitrogen compounds observed in arid regions after periods of rainfall without being able to identify the source. A study is now bringing light into the darkness. Bettina Weber and her colleagues ...

Gift-wrapped gas molecules

Scientists in France and Scotland identify new encapsulation agents for delivery of nitric oxide, a potent antibacterial agent and vasodilator

06-Jan-2015 - A group of scientists led by researchers at the Université de Versailles' Institut Lavoisier in France has worked out how to stably gift-wrap a chemical gas known as nitric oxide within metal-organic frameworks. Such an encapsulated chemical may allow doctors to administer nitric oxide in a more ...

Molecules as circuits

The Kondo effect can improve a molecule's conductivity

27-Jan-2014 - Silicon-based electronics has certain limits, in the physical sense of the word: this type of circuit can never become "nano" because of the physical laws governing the flow of electrons. This imposes a halt to the process of miniaturization of electronic devices. One of the possible solutions is ...

Nanotube-based sensors can be implanted under the skin for a year

05-Nov-2013 - Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most important signaling molecules in living cells, carrying messages within the brain and coordinating immune system functions. In many cancerous cells, levels are perturbed, but very little is known about how NO behaves in both healthy and cancerous ...

Clean soot particle filters

08-Nov-2011 - The soot particle filters found on diesel vehicles are designed to ensure that no harm- ful particles make their way through the exhaust pipe. Often, though, the exhaust from newer-model engines is not hot enough to free the filters from soot particles on a regular basis. A new method removes ...