Two hundred times better catalysts thanks to carbon

“For a long time, the use of carbon as a carrier material for catalysis had something almost magical”

12-Nov-2024 - When you place metal nanoparticles on carbon, they become much more active. What was previously only assumed based on experience could now be explained in detail for the first time at TU Wien (Vienna). Precious metals play an important role in the chemical industry as catalysts: With the help of ...

The insulator unraveled

Scientists have uncovered the detailed structure of the aluminum oxide surface, a challenge that has baffled researchers for decades

18-Sep-2024 - Aluminum oxide (Al2O3), also known as alumina, corundum, sapphire, or ruby, is one of the best insulators used in a wide range of applications: in electronic components, as a support material for catalysts, or as a chemically resistant ceramic, to name a few. Knowledge of the precise arrangement ...

Understanding microplastics - with high-speed cameras

How microplastic particles spread in the ocean depends on microscopic details

07-Aug-2024 - Microplastics are a global problem: they end up in rivers and oceans, accumulate in living organisms and disrupt entire ecosystems. How tiny particles behave in a current is difficult to describe scientifically - especially in the case of thin fibers, which make up more than half of the ...

Nanofibers rid water of hazardous dyes

Waste to purify water - it sounds paradoxical, but that is exactly what has now been achieved

25-Apr-2024 - Dyes, such as those used in the textile industry, are a major environmental problem. At TU Wien, efficient filters have now been developed – based on cellulose waste. Using waste to purify water may sound counterintuitive. But at TU Wien, this is exactly what has now been achieved: a special ...

The self-cleaning wall paint

Catalysis research makes it possible: new wall paint can clean itself through exposure to sunlight and chemically break down pollutants from the air.

26-Mar-2024 - Beautiful white wall paint usually does not stay beautiful and white forever. Various substances from the air often accumulate on the surface. This can be a desirable effect because it makes the air cleaner for a short time - but over time the paint discolors and needs to be renewed. A research ...

Chemical analyses faster and more precise than ever before

A new spectroscopy method: Ultra-short light pulses enable high-precision "artificial nose"

15-Mar-2024 - Whether you want to analyze environmental samples in nature or monitor a chemical experiment, you often need highly sensitive sensors that can "sniff out" even tiny traces of a certain gas with extreme accuracy. Variants of Raman spectroscopy are often used for this purpose: Different molecules ...

‘Strange metal’ is strangely quiet in noise experiment

27-Nov-2023 - True to form, a “strange metal” quantum material proved strangely quiet in recent quantum noise experiments at Rice University. The measurements of quantum charge fluctuations known as “shot noise” provide the first direct evidence that electricity seems to flow through strange metals in an ...

Two conductors of a chemical reaction

Watching the reaction live

22-Nov-2023 - For the first time, researchers at TU Wien have successfully observed the operating principle of so-called promoters in a catalytic reaction in real-time. These promoters play an important role in technology, but so far there is only limited understanding of how they work. Catalysts are essential ...

Golden future for thermoelectrics

Record breaking material

20-Sep-2023 - Researchers at TU Wien discover excellent thermoelectric properties of nickel-gold alloys. These can be used to efficiently convert heat into electrical energy. Thermoelectrics enable the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy - and vice versa. This makes them interesting for a range of ...

Graphene: Perfection is futile

This is good news for the global graphene community

30-Aug-2023 - The carbon material graphene has excellent electronic properties. But are they also stable enough to be useful in practice? Calculations from TU Wien say: Yes. Nothing in the world is perfect. This is also true in materials research. In computer simulations, one often represents a system in a ...