Researchers at PNNL and their collaborators have made a significant improvement to a catalyst that is more rugged and can reduce tailpipe pollution at lower temperatures than existing methods.
Several years ago, a relatively new catalyst for vehicle emission control began showing failure. A team at PNNL found that this seemingly suicidal catalyst wasn’t actually self-destructing but was the victim of an external assailant.
Aluminum oxyhydroxide (boehmite) nanoplatelets align and attach to form neatly ordered stacks, a novel findings that involves both experimental and computational research.
Researchers developed a new hybrid catalyst that achieved chemo-selective and site-selective hydrogenation of aromatic molecules under low pressure of dihydrogen and mild temperature.
Vitrifying nuclear waste for storage is complicated by aluminum and understanding this behavior is vital. Research suggests that upon radiolysis, the properties of humid aluminum particles do not change substantially but hydrogen is formed.