X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

The MXene class of materials has many talents. An international team led by HZB chemist Michelle Browne has now demonstrated that MXenes, properly functionalized, are excellent catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction in electrolytic water splitting. They are more stable and efficient than the best metal oxide catalysts currently available. The team is now extensively characterizing these MXene catalysts for…

Chloroplast, which is a double-membrane-bounded organelle, is the main site for CO2 fixation via photosynthesis in green plants. The double-membrane configuration can regulate the transport of substances into and out of the chloroplasts with the aid of functional units like lipid bilayer and transmembrane proteins.

Goldene is a layer of gold a single atom thick. It doesn't look very … goldy?… but it's a major achievement of materials science. Shun Kashiwaya and others: The synthesis…

The Donnan electric potential arises from an imbalance of charges at the interface of a charged membrane and a liquid, and for more than a century it has stubbornly eluded direct measurement. Many researchers have even written off such a measurement as impossible.

A multinational team of researchers have developed a process that builds on the success of current reverse osmosis processes that remove salt from seawater. Researchers led by Professor Heqing Jiang, of the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences published their findings Nov. 18, 2022 in Nano Research.

Photovoltage measurements on cuprous oxide photocatalyst particles are used to spatiotemporally track the charge transfer processes on the femtosecond to second timescale at the single-particle level.

Magnetic domains walls are known to be a source of electrical resistance due to the difficulty for transport electron spins to follow their magnetic texture. This phenomenon holds potential for utilization in spintronic devices, where the electrical resistance can vary based on the presence or absence of a domain wall.

The Haber–Bosch reaction helps feed the world by converting nitrogen into ammonia, a fertilizer precursor. However, its carbon footprint is huge: this one reaction is the source of nearly 2% of global carbon emissions. Now, in a study recently published in ACS Energy Letters, researchers from Osaka University have helped re-imagine this reaction to improve the sustainability of the chemical industry.

Researchers from the UPC, the University of Udine (Italy) and the ALBA Synchrotron have discovered a palladium and platinum catalyst, the first to eliminate methane emissions from transport and other human activities to reduce global warming. The study has been recently published in Nature Communications.

Pure water is an almost perfect insulator.

Owing to their unique permeable, hollow shell structures with inner, movable cores, yolk-shell nanocrystals are suitable for a wide variety of applications. Yolk-shell nanocrystals consisting of a gold core with various semiconductor shells have been developed using a novel sequential ion-exchange process. These metal-semiconductor yolk-shell nanocrystals can serve as highly effective photocatalysts for many…

Recent respiratory outbreaks have garnered substantial attention, yet most respiratory monitoring remains confined to physical signals. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) harbors rich molecular information that could unveil diverse insights into an ...

Zeolites encapsulated metal and metal oxide species (regarded as metal@zeolite) are an important type of heterogeneous catalyst. They give performances that steadily outperform the traditional supported catalysts in many important reactions and have become a research hotspot. Remarkable achievements have been made dealing with the synthesis, characterization, and performances of metal species (typically metal and…

The bioactivity of most near-infrared II (NIRII) fluorophores are limited, thereby conflicting the achievement of strong fluorescence and high catalytic activities, due to a lack of free electrons in the method.

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) provide a practical solution for direct conversion of CO2 to chemicals; however, an in-depth mechanistic understanding of the dynamic reconstruction of active sites for perovskite cathodes during CO2 electrolysis remains a great challenge.

As part of its xiLAB initiative, XIMEA expands the xiJ family of cooled sCMOS cameras with models for XUV and Soft X-ray imaging.

Researchers at Binghamton University led research partnering with the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory—to get a better look at how peroxides on the surface of copper oxide promote the oxidation of hydrogen but inhibit the oxidation of carbon monoxide, allowing them to steer oxidation reactions. They were…

Since the initial discovery of what has become a rapidly growing family of two-dimensional layered materials—called MXenes—in 2011, Drexel University researchers have made steady progress in understanding the complex chemical composition and structure, as well as the physical and electrochemical properties, of these exceptionally versatile materials. More than a decade later, advanced instruments and a new approach…

Fusion is getting billions in private investment, interest from young scientists. Here's a look at how the government is researching fuel cycles and safety.

Sodium metal batteries (SMBs) have attracted extensive attention because of their high theoretical capacity (1166 mAh/g), low redox potential (−2.71 V vs. SHE), high natural material abundance, and low cost. However, the growth of dendrites results in poor battery performance and severe safety problems, inhibiting the commercial application of SMBs.