catalyst Archives – The Green Optimistic

New Electrochemical Cell Can Make Synthetic Fuel

Courtney Lepping — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 05:26:52 +0000

Scientists at the University of Illinois may have found a way to move away from the use of fossil fuels and towards synthetically producing fuel via an electrochemical cell that houses three electrodes. This cell is designed to behave in similar ways that a plant would by gaining energy from light. Plants can easily produce […]

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New Solar Cell Behaves Like Actual Plant

Courtney Lepping — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 19:49:19 +0000

There’s an efficient new solar cell that can basically perform the job of any plant: convert carbon dioxide into fuel. Instead of a photovoltaic solar cell, the photosynthetic solar cell aims to utilize the excess carbon in the atmosphere and make fuel from that. The characteristics and appearance of such solar cell is much like […]

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New Catalyst for Greening up Natural Gas

Courtney Lepping — Fri, 27 May 2016 13:14:31 +0000

Javier Pérez-Ramírez and his researchers discovered a catalyst that can be used for changing natural gas into basic chemicals used for specific applications. The use of natural gas for the chemical industry is a valued method that can lead to the production of not only fuels but polymers and pharmaceuticals. The reaction they were focused […]

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UIC Team Finds More Efficient Way to Convert Carbon Dioxide into Fuel

Danny Harper — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 07:15:40 +0000

The ease at which we can burn hydrocarbons to produce energy has led to huge gains in productivity and quality of life for millions, but it also coincides directly with the extreme rise in carbon dioxide emissions that we have been observing since the industrial revolution. This has led many in the scientific community to […]

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Gold and Rust Unlikely Partners in Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Duke University

Benji Jerew — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:28:29 +0000

Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity directly from hydrogen and generate zero carbon dioxide emissions, unlike conventional methods of electricity generation. In order to accomplish this feat, a catalyst in the hydrogen fuel cell starts and maintains the reaction. Hydrogen in the fuel, typically pure hydrogen gas, is combined chemically with oxygen from the atmosphere, generating […]

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Metallic Catalysts Could Increase the Efficiency of Li-Air Batteries Three Fold

Cristi — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:20:11 +0000

The MIT researchers could easily change the balance towards Li-air batteries in the near future just by changing the actual electrode materials. In the paper published in the journal Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, the researchers showed that by changing the carbon electrodes with gold or platinum electrodes as a catalyst, the efficiency of the battery will increase.

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Thermochemical System Combines Production of Ethanol and Thermal Energy

Cristi — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:24:53 +0000

Iowa State University started a new project of developing a thermochemical system that combines production of ethanol and thermal energy. With a low-emission burner and a new catalyst for ethanol production, the technologies use synthesis gas produced from discarded seed corn, switch-grass, wood chips and other biomass.

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Trametes Versicolor Fungi Could Make Fuel Cells Cheaper

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:29:43 +0000

Fungi grown on rotten wood could one day be harvested and genetically engineered for providing future fuel cells with an alternative to the platinum that they nowadays have inside, playing the role of a catalyst.

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New Diesel DeNOx Catalyst to Reduce Emissions by 95%

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:00:22 +0000

A new catalyst has been developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. It can reduce the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions diesel engines from 90%-95%. Integrated Fuel Technologies, Inc. (IFT), a Washington State start-up company with offices in Spokane and Kirkland, has been licensed to produce it.

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New Revolutionary Recipe For Making Biodiesel In Under 6 Seconds!

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:10:01 +0000

Everybody is talking today about a young scientist, Brian Krohn (21), in fact a senior at Augsburg College. He invented a new revolutionary way of making biodiesel out of waste oils, sparing the crops for feeding the poor (?). His method implies the mixing of alcohol and coconut oil, soybean oil, and even algae. All […]

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Recycle your boost: highway-based wind turbines

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:31:22 +0000

I found a blog that describes an extraordinary idea for making electricity from wind. It is a highway-based wind turbine, and I have never heard anything like that before. The idea is a student’s semester project. The original site is written at the end of the article. Parasite- an organism that lives on or in […]

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