![]() Remember, acid rain used to be a problem we talked about even two decades ago and now we no longer do. If, however we could lower the amount of energy required, or if we would be able to tune the catalyst to make specific products, if we could find catalysts that would make these things easier, suddenly it would become feasible. Right now, it would create more pollution than it would save. The truth is, such a process is theoretically possible, but it is not yet energy efficient. ![]() Imagine, for example, turning CO 2 into useful compounds. Top image: Assyrian attack on a town with archers and a wheeled battering ram, 865860 BC. Instead, they served, and over a generation or two, integrated within the local Assyrian populations, eventually losing their identity. Vogt explains: "I believe the key to a greener, more sustainable future lies in better catalysts. It appears that the so-called Lost Ten Tribes of Israel were never lost. It was recently published in Nature Communications.Ĭatalysis plays such an important role in nearly every industry it is easy to see how understanding catalysts and improving them can have a significant impact. The study was a collaboration between the Technion, Utrecht University, Eindhoven University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and the Paul Scherrer Institute. The process is so fast, that without the novel technology, and smart experimental design, it could not have been observed. ![]() It changes its shape, and displays not the expected "flat surfaces," but peaks and valleys, leaving only specific reactive sites exposed. In truth, what happens is that the catalyst nanoparticle undergoes rapid restructuring. Vogt used advanced characterization methods, including particle accelerators and quick spectroscopy to discover that the reactions indeed only appear to be structure insensitive. Charlotte Vogt from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion, together with an international team of scientists, has found the answer. It had already been theoretically accepted that it should not exist. This is called "structure insensitivity." It is a phenomenon that is empirically observed, but for a long time it remained unexplained. Except sometimes the shape appears to have absolutely no effect-no matter whether the particles are big or small, the reaction occurs at the same rate. The nanoparticle's shape and size should affect how effective they are at catalyzing a reaction, depending on whether the reaction needs the peaks and valleys or the flat surfaces. A smaller particle has more irregular surfaces, with peaks and valleys, and displays more atoms "sticking out." A larger particle would have more flat areas. Many catalysts are made up of nanoparticles on a support, which can have varied structures.
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