Nanoparticles make it easier to turn light into solvated electrons

Nanowerk  January 17, 2023 Solvated electrons are powerful reducing agents capable of driving some of the most energetically expensive reduction reactions. It has been proposed that solvated electrons, which are powerful reducing agents, could be produced by photoexcitation of roughened metal electrodes, but no study has demonstrated a clear mechanism for their generation. A team of researchers in the US (Rice University, Stanford University, UT Austin) has shown that plasmons create solvated electrons in water. They showed that the yield of solvated electrons in water was increased more than 10 times for nanoparticle-decorated electrodes compared to smooth silver electrodes. Based […]

A new catalyst to slow down global warming

Phys.org   September 2, 2022 An international team of researchers (Russia, USA – University of Notre Dame) has developed a new simplified method of producing industrial cobalt-nickel catalysts for carbon dioxide processing that makes the process simple and inexpensive. The catalysts are a bulk alloy with a porous surface and nanoscale grains that form foamy high-activity particles. Due to the structure and the synergistic interaction of Co with Ni, the catalysts are characterized by a more intense interaction with CO2 molecules and high stability. They focused on exploring the possibilities of full utilization of carbon dioxide, simplifying the production of effective […]