Ames National Laboratory’s Post

Can new crystallisation methods make the extraction of nickel, cobalt and manganese for battery production more sustainable? A research group at KTH Royal Institute of Technology will try to find out. “At KTH, we will investigate the crystallisation of Ni, Co and Mn salts from methanesulfonic acid (MSA) with two new methods based on eutectic freeze crystallisation and constriction crystallisation. The work will involve one doctoral student and one postdoc,” says Kerstin Forsberg, professor in chemical engineering. The group Kerstin Forsberg leads is part of the larger European collaborative project CICERO, which focuses on developing sustainable and cost-effective processes to extract nickel, cobalt and manganese to produce Li-ion batteries from European raw materials. Want to know more? Read a longer interview with Kerstin: https://lnkd.in/dMdmQiPw #materialsscience #sustainability #batteries

Water I know about, but water’s skin…🤔 🌊 Water's skin, the mesmerizing air-water interface, is a ubiquitous wonder. From the grandeur of the ocean-air interface to the delicate beauty of raindrops, dew, fog, and clouds, it captivates our imagination. Measuring at a mere ~1 nanometer, this ultra-thin skin may hold the key to the behavior of chemical species transitioning between gas and liquid phases. 🔬 The properties of water's skin have kept the scientific community on its toes, sparking debates and pushing the boundaries of our understanding. One particularly hotly debated topic revolves around the spontaneous generation of hydrogen peroxide on the surface of water microdroplets. 📰 Rebecca Trager, Science Journalist from #ChemistryWorld magazine, sheds light on the remarkable tour de aqua that unfolds as prolific chemists from esteemed institutions like #KAUST, #Stanford, #UCBerkeley, #Caltech, #Purdue, #CNRS, and #CMU engage in a lively exchange of ideas. 🎉 Heartfelt congratulations to Muzzamil Ahmad Eatoo for resolving this conundrum, and to the former team members -- Adair Gallo Jr., Nayara Vivian Huve Musskopf, and collaborators Hong Im and @SiggiThoroddsen -- whose contributions paved the way for these groundbreaking insights. 🤺 🏄♀️ 🏊♂️ 🤾♂️ #WaterScience #Chemistry #Research #Innovation #curiosity #ScientificAdvancements #chemicalscience

Water at surfaces and interfaces! I have done some #compchem myself : https://lnkd.in/etaqC_fm It is always exciting to discover about our beloved water being of use in #greenchemistry

Our new publication: Theoretical Investigation of Carbon Dioxide on MgH2 with Cobalt Catalyst - now published in Industrial Chemistry & Materials https://lnkd.in/dhFHyWep

I am pleased to share the publication of our latest review article, "Progress in Energy-Safety Balanced Cocrystallization of Four Commercially Attractive Nitramines," in the Crystal Growth & Design of the American Chemical Society (ACS)! Our aim was to present a thorough overview of the Energetic-Energetic cocrystallization of four attractive nitramines. In this review, we briefly describe the main earlier findings on Energetic-Energetic cocrystallization of four attractive nitramines; this includes key areas of research, innovative methodologies, or important conclusions drawn. Along with our contribution of a scalable VPSZ coagglomeration method. We hope that this method, these new insights and perspectives will further advance research and innovation in this field. In essence, every practical technological method for cocrystallization of Energy-Safety balanced energetic materials has suitable thermochemical and stability properties. Both energetic conformers self-assemble with supramolecular interactions in a noncovalent manner. Compared to traditional Energetic-Energetic cocrystallization methods, the VPSZ coagglomeration method is more technologically promising for large-scale preparations and will advance in the coming years. I want to extend my gratitude to Prof. Svatopluk Zeman for his valuable support in this work, as well as to our collaborators for their continuous support. I also appreciate the support and feedback from the reviewers and editors at ACS that helped refine our manuscript. If you are interested in the latest developments in cocrystallization of Energetic materials and our VPSZ coagglomeration method, I invite you to read the full article. Thank you for your continued support. Let's keep pushing the boundaries of science together! 🌍 University of Pardubice #Research #Innovation #VPSZCoagglomeration #CrystalGrowth #Cocrystals #ACS #Chemistry #Science #ChemicalTechnology

The closer you are to the discovery, the farther the discovery is from you. Some years ago, I was studying the coking reaction in the catalytic dry reforming of methane. Coking is an unwilling but unavoidable side process that reduces the life span of reforming and dehydrogenation catalysts. Since the end of WW2, science has been looking for solutions to eliminate coking and reduce the use of precious metals, and the industry has been trying to find the right balance of performance and costs. In my experiments, used custom-designed high-pressure thermobalances to monitor coke formation and catalytic performance in situ. What I observed was quite intriguing – after reoxidizing the coked catalyst and removing the coke, the catalyst showed lower coke formation in subsequent reforming runs. And after four regeneration cycles, voila, no more coking at all! We were over the moon....., thinking we were onto a revolutionary discovery - a noble-metal-free catalyst that is not prone to forming coke. To explain this phenomenon, we studied this regenerated catalyst in detail. We found phase transformations and changes in the surface's electron structure upon every regeneration cycle. We were doing tedious XRD refinement and time-intensive XPS analysis. They were all very interesting results, but they were all not relevant. I read pioneering TG studies of Rostrup Nielsen, a Haldor Topse veteran in developing reforming and pyrolysis catalysts. In their meticulous TG efforts, there were no such observations. At some point, when loading a new sample, I just looked at the sample containers with the as-prepared and regenerated catalysts, and I noticed that the regenerated one was a very fine powder, whether the as-prepared one consisted of grains 100-200mkm mesh. After a couple of tests, I realized a sad but true fact. When coke forms, it accumulates in the pores, surface, and cracks. At some point, it mechanically destroys the large grains. When the coke is oxidised, the rapid gas liberation and heat evolution lead to the collapse of the catalyst grains to dust. Such a small grain size literary formed the plug that no gas could pass through the catalytic bed. So, our experimental observed phenomena resulted from the unconsidered changes in mass transfer. Our findings weren't as groundbreaking as we had hoped. If we had involved a chemical engineer in our research, we might have avoided some of these misinterpretations. 😅 Nonetheless, as a chemist, there's always a bit of a dreamer in us, and that's what keeps us exploring new possibilities.

🌌 Meanwhile, in a chemical space far, far away… Hidden in this uncharted territory are new materials waiting to be discovered. But this chemical space poses a formidable challenge for research because it is as vast as, or even more extensive than actual outer space. Hard to believe, we know. But the facts speak for themselves: There are more possible combinations of a small organic molecule (between 10²² and 10⁶⁰) than there are stars in the observable universe (between 10²² and 10²⁴). The numbers get even bigger when it comes to larger and more complex chemical structures. Think of the chemicals used in batteries, polymers, alloys, or pharmaceuticals. So, how do you find hidden materials within the vastness of chemical space? With the help of chemical simulations. Find out more in our latest article: https://lnkd.in/eMJFi4wb #Science #Research #Materials #Chemistry #Simulation

🔬 Special Issue Invitation: "Understanding the Mechanisms of Single-Atom Catalysis" - Edited by Prof. Porun Liu from Griffith University. Catalysis is the cornerstone of countless industrial applications, from energy solutions to chemical synthesis. The advent of single-atom catalysts (SACs) has revolutionized catalytic science with their unparalleled activity and stability, offering a sustainable edge for industrial processes. Despite their transformative potential, unraveling the intricacies of SACs' mechanisms remains crucial for their advancement. This Special Issue of #EnergyMaterials is a call for cutting-edge research that deepens our grasp of SACs and propels their industrial application. We welcome submissions of original research and comprehensive reviews in areas such as: ✅ Innovative SACs synthesis and characterization ✅ Mechanistic insights into SACs' functionality ✅ SACs in energy conversion/storage and environmental applications ✅ Computational studies on SACs' electronic structures and kinetics ✅ The role of supports and promoters in enhancing SACs performance Join us in this scholarly endeavor to shape the future of catalysis. Submit your work and be part of a collective effort to harness the true potential of single-atom catalysis. For submissions and more details, visit: https://lnkd.in/gr57fwv4 #CallForPapers #Catalysis #SingleAtomCatalysis #SustainableIndustry #AcademicResearch #Innovation #ChemicalEngineering #MaterialScience

"Ruddlesden-Popper compounds are a class of materials with a special layered structure that makes them interesting for numerous applications—as superconductors or catalysts, for example, or for use in photovoltaics. There have been many halides and oxides of this structural type before now, but no nitrides. Although scientists expected Ruddlesden-Popper nitrides to have outstanding material properties, they were unable to actually manufacture them. Now researchers led by Dr. Simon Kloß from the Department of Chemistry at LMU have developed a special synthetic pathway which has enabled them to manufacture nitride materials that crystallize in the Ruddlesden-Popper structural type. The study is published in the journal Nature Chemistry." #materialscience

Our latest review of mechanistic aspects during green fuel production in collaboration with Ulrich S. Schubert is online in Chemistry! In this article we have an in-depth look at how oxymethylene ether (OMEs) - an interesting alternative transportation fuel - are formed during synthesis. Link to the study is in the comments. What surprised me was to find how large the energy density in chemical energy carries is and how far off lithium and sodium batteries are in comparison. While I believe that EVs are a suitable solution for individual transportation, I also see the challenges associated with the electrification of heavy duty vehicles. At the moment I believe that chemical energy carries are needed for transportation. For this we need to find circular, economic synthesis protocols. What is your opinion on the topic? #Chemistry #CircularEconomy #Physics #GreenTech #Science Technische Universität Ilmenau Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena