Home > News > Catalyst kinetics revealed
May 21st, 2009
Abstract:
French and UK scientists have developed a spectroscopy technique that has elucidated the reaction mechanism of a silver-alumina catalyst. The researchers say their approach should allow scientists to fine tune both this catalyst and other industrial heterogeneous catalysts to improve performance.
Silver-alumina catalysts are used in lean burn engines, which conserve fossil fuels and limit carbon dioxide emissions but produce nitrogen oxide, a greenhouse gas. Silver-alumina catalysts help remove this nitrogen oxide by reacting it with carbon monoxide. However, the lack of suitable experimental methods to help clarify exactly how supported precious metal catalysts like this work at the molecular level has proved a major obstacle in improving efficiency.
Now, Frédéric Thibault-Starzyk from ENSICAEN, the Université de Caen, France, and colleagues, have combined a high-time resolution Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIS) with a femtosecond laser and revealed a key intermediate step in the reaction between carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. Using their technique they observed a 2 microsecond flip of a cyanide group from a silver nanoparticle to the alumina support, revealing the importance of the silver-alumina interface.
Source:
rsc.org
Bookmark:
| 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
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
Research partnerships
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024
'Sudden death' of quantum fluctuations defies current theories of superconductivity: Study challenges the conventional wisdom of superconducting quantum transitions January 12th, 2024
 |
||
 |
||
| 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 |
||
|
|
||