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Environmentally safer catalyst proves more active in hydrogen production

Ohio State University engineers have developed a chemical catalyst that increases hydrogen production without using a toxic metal common to other catalysts.

16 March 2005: Ohio State University

 

Loss of sulphur atom reduces activity of catalyst

Chemical catalysts used to produce clean fuels gradually become less active. Dutch researcher Bas Vogelaar believes that the loss of sulphur atoms might be an important cause of this. He investigated hydroprocessing catalysts which remove sulphur compounds from petrol and diesel.

16 March 2005: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

 

Loss of sulphur atom reduces activity of catalyst

Chemical catalysts used to produce clean fuels gradually become less active. Dutch researcher Bas Vogelaar believes that the loss of sulphur atoms might be an important cause of this. He investigated hydroprocessing catalysts which remove sulphur compounds from petrol and diesel.

16 March 2005: Delft University of Technology

 

Ceria nanoparticles catalyse reactions for cleaner-fuel future

Experiments on ceria (cerium oxide) nanoparticles carried out at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory may lead to catalytic converters that are better at cleaning up auto exhaust, and/or to more-efficient ways of generating hydrogen - a promising zero-emission fuel for the future.

15 March 2005: DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

 

High-intensity ultrasound creates hollow nanospheres and nanocrystals

Using high-intensity ultrasound, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created hollow nanospheres and the first hollow nanocrystals. The nanospheres could be used in microelectronics, drug delivery and as catalysts for making environmentally friendly fuels.

22 February 2005: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Tiny superconductors withstand stronger magnetic fields

Ultrathin superconducting wires can withstand stronger magnetic fields than larger wires made from the same material, researchers now report. This finding may be useful for technologies that employ superconducting magnets, such as magnetic resonance imaging.

06 February 2005: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Chemical process developed to use cotton gin residue

Virginia Tech researchers are working on technologies that could create a new industry from a problem in the state's cotton-growing region.

17 December 2004: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

 

Green car sets speed record

When the non-profit organisation IdéeVerte Compétition decided to create a 'green' racing car, they turned to space technology to make it safer.

15 November 2004: European Space Agency

 

Thermal superconductivity in carbon nanotubes not so 'super' when added to certain materials

Superb conductors of heat and infinitesimal in size, carbon nanotubes might be used to prevent overheating in next-generation computing devices or as fillers to enhance thermal conductivity of insulating materials, such as durable plastics or engine oil. But a research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has discovered that the nanotubes' role as thermal superconductors is greatly diminished when mixed with materials such as polymers that make up plastics.

11 November 2004: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Taking the next step toward growing our own fuel

Developing a petroleum-free fuel from corn byproducts is one of the goals of a newly named research theme at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

31 October 2004: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Silicon-based photodetector is sensitive to ultraviolet light

By depositing thin films of silicon nanoparticles on silicon substrates, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have fabricated a photodetector sensitive to ultraviolet light. Silicon-based ultraviolet sensors could prove very handy in military, security and commercial applications. 'Silicon is the most common semiconductor, but it has not been useful for detecting ultraviolet light until now,' said Munir Nayfeh, a professor of physics at Illinois and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. 'Ultraviolet light is usually absorbed by silicon and converted into heat, but we found a way to make silicon devices that absorb ultraviolet light and produce electrical current instead.'

19 July 2004: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Strong magnetic field converts nanotube from metal to semiconductor and back

By threading a magnetic field through a carbon nanotube, scientists have switched the molecule between metallic and semiconducting states, a phenomenon predicted by physicists some years ago, but never before clearly seen in individual molecules. In the May 21 issue of the journal Science, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign present experimental evidence that a nanotube's electronic structure can be altered in response to a magnetic field. The research team consisted of physics professors Alexey Bezryadin and Paul Goldbart, postdoctoral research associate Smitha Vishveshwara and graduate students Ulas Coskun and Tzu-Chieh Wei.

20 May 2004: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Increased water vapor in stratosphere possibly caused by tropical biomass burning

The doubling of the moisture content in the stratosphere over the last 50 years was caused, at least in part, by tropical biomass burning, a Yale researcher has concluded from examining satellite weather data.

20 February 2002: Yale University

 
 
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