Home > Press > Ruthenium nanoframes open the doors to better catalysts
Using a two-part process, chemist Xiaohu Xia and his team found a way to turn ruthenium into a nanoframe, a promising metal catalyst. CREDIT: Michigan Tech, Xiaohu Xia |
Abstract:
The world is run by catalysts. They clean up after cars, help make fertilizers, and could be the key to better hydrogen fuel. Now, a team of chemists, led by Xiaohu Xia from Michigan Technological University, has found a better way to make metal nanoframe catalysts.
Last week, Nano Letters published the team's study, which covers how the researchers made a catalyst for the first time out of the noble metal ruthenium.
The effort brought together a team from Michigan Tech, the Argonne National Laboratory, University of Texas at Dallas, and Temple University. The team's break-through is not limited to ruthenium, however. Xia says the process they developed is most important.
"We are fine-tuning the surface, size, shape and crystal structure," he says. "Our goal is to increase their catalytic activity while reducing the usage of this precious material."
The key is more surface area. Nanoframes, which are nanoparticles with open centers, have an advantage with their gazebo-like atomic arrangements.
Xia adds that not only shape but crystal structure is important, "Because catalytic reactions occur only on the surface of materials, the surface atom arrangement has a great impact on determining the catalytic activity."
In general, ruthenium nanocrystals adopt the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure. But Xia and his team came up with an elegant solution for making ruthenium nanocrystals with another structure: face-centered cubic (fcc) structure.
The process involves two steps, growth and etching. Basically, hcp ruthenium doesn't naturally grow in a crystal structure that can be made into a nanoframe. So, the team directed ruthenium growth on a palladium seed with an fcc structure, which the ruthenium replicated. Then they removed the palladium core, leaving behind an fcc ruthenium nanoframe.
To ensure the material had catalytic potential, the team ran the ruthenium nanoframes through several diagnostic tests: the reduction of p-nitrophenol by NaBH4 and the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. While more data is needed to quantify how well ruthenium holds up against existing metal catalysts, Xia says the results from their experiments are promising.
Once the material has been vetted, researchers will be able to start applying the catalyst to several big challenges. Namely, Xia says that ruthenium nanoframes and other catalysts with unique crystal structures could improve hydrogen fuel production and carbon storage.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Xiaohu Xia
906-487-2470
Copyright © Michigan Technological University
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related Links |
Related News Press |
News and information
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Chemistry
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
Possible Futures
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
With VECSELs towards the quantum internet Fraunhofer: IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters April 5th, 2024
Discoveries
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024
Announcements
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Food/Agriculture/Supplements
Silver nanoparticles: guaranteeing antimicrobial safe-tea November 17th, 2023
Night-time radiative warming using the atmosphere November 17th, 2023
DGIST and New Life Group launched a research project on "Functional beauty and health products using the latest nanotechnology" May 12th, 2023
Energy
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Inverted perovskite solar cell breaks 25% efficiency record: Researchers improve cell efficiency using a combination of molecules to address different November 17th, 2023
The efficient perovskite cells with a structured anti-reflective layer – another step towards commercialization on a wider scale October 6th, 2023
Automotive/Transportation
Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024
Tests find no free-standing nanotubes released from tire tread wear September 8th, 2023
Fuel Cells
Current and Future Developments in Nanomaterials and Carbon Nanotubes: Applications of Nanomaterials in Energy Storage and Electronics October 28th, 2022
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||