Pressurized water nuclear reactors in the United States generate about 13 percent of U.S. electricity. Though efficient, these reactors face a unique challenge with stress corrosion cracking (SCC). This type of corrosion is one of the primary life-limiting degradation mechanisms of nickel-base alloy pressure boundary components, such as instrumentation and control rod nozzles, the welds that attach these nozzles to the reactor vessel, and welds that connect feedwater piping to the reactor vessel. As interest grows in a more sustainable and efficient fleet of nuclear reactors across the world, there is increasing interest in characterizing SCC initiation response.
Dr. Morris Bullock and Dr. Monte Helm reviewed the catalysis research at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, where Bullock is the director, in a recent article in Accounts of Chemical Research.
Generating power without gasoline, diesel, or coal could change our nation's energy and security landscape. However, replacing technologies that use fossil fuel with ones that require rare metals is unsustainable.
Making hydrogen economically demands a quick, efficient reaction. Creating that reaction demands a catalyst. CME scientists found that a proton and water-packed environment lets the catalyst work 50 times faster—without added energy.
School's out, which means a new group of interns is settling into summer research assignments with mentors at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.
Quickly, reliably turning wind energy into fuel means looking beyond the catalyst to its foundation, according to a recent study from the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis.
At PNNL, scientists have elaborated on a strategy to map the catalytic route. Scientists can now explore design decisions with molecular catalysts that store or release energy from the chemical bond in dihydrogen (H2).
In the latest edition of the Institute for Integrated Catalysis' Transformations, PNNL scientist Bob Weber provides an overview on the value of catalysis to the economy, society, and scientific research in general.
Ryan Stolley from the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis penned the theme article in the current issue of Frontiers in Energy Research on what it takes to build collaboration at an EFRC.
Where protons, or positive charges, decide to rest makes the difference between proceeding towards ammonia (NH3) production or not, according to scientists at PNNL and Villanova University.
In an invited ACS Catalysis Viewpoint paper, scientists at PNNL proposed a way to measure and report the energy efficiency of molecular electrocatalysts.
Taking a cue from enzymes, researchers at PNNL placed the amino acid arginine at the periphery of a hydrogen-splitting catalyst that cleaves hydrogen into protons and electrons.
Scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) devised a new computation-based method to predict the catalytic intermediates that could represent a thermodynamic sink.
Like ripping open a dinner roll, a fuel cell catalyst that converts hydrogen into electricity must tear open a hydrogen molecule. Now researchers have captured a view of such a catalyst holding onto the two halves of its hydrogen feast.
In their invited review for Chemical Communications, Dr. R. Morris Bullock, Dr. Aaron Appel, and Dr. Monte Helm at PNNL describe how proton relays and other factors influence the catalysts that produce the desired chemical bonds.
Using their understanding of a proton's choices, CME researchers revised their nickel-based catalyst to quickly handle one of a fuel cell's tough challenges: breaking chemical bonds and freeing the stored electrons to work.
By directly comparing three closely related catalysts, CME scientists established that hydrogen production speed and efficiency are influenced by the molecules' structure and proton relay arrangement, not the total number relays.
In studying how to modify carbon electrodes for catalyzed reactions, scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis designed a process for creating a plethora of specialized electrodes at room temperature.
