#ruthenium
Light makes Rice U. catalyst more effective: Halas lab details plasmonic effect that allows catalyst to work at lower energy
Rice University nanoscientists have demonstrated a new catalyst that can convert ammonia into hydrogen fuel at ambient pressure using only light energy, mainly due to a plasmonic effect that makes the catalyst more efficient.
[…]
A study from Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) in this week’s issue of Science describes the new catalytic nanoparticles, which are made mostly of copper with trace amounts of ruthenium metal. Tests showed the catalyst benefited from a light-induced electronic process that significantly lowered the “activation barrier,” or minimum energy needed, for the ruthenium to break apart ammonia molecules.
The research comes as governments and industry are investing billions of dollars to develop infrastructure and markets for carbon-free liquid ammonia fuel that will not contribute to greenhouse warming. But the researchers say the plasmonic effect could have implications beyond the “ammonia economy.”
Post link
Ruthenium in Steel
Though not a commercially available alloying element, largely due to its cost, the effects of the addition of ruthenium to steel have been considered and researched. In general, the addition of small amounts of ruthenium (and other platinum group metals, such as palladium) has been found to increase the corrosion resistance of certain stainless steels, especially in non-oxidizing environments.
Sources/Further Reading: (1) (2)
Post link
New process aims to strip ammonia from wastewater
A dash of ruthenium atoms on a mesh of copper nanowires could be one step toward a revolution in the global ammonia industry that also helps the environment.
Collaborators at Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering, Arizona State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed the high-performance catalyst that can, with near 100% efficiency, pull ammonia and solid ammonia—aka fertilizer—from low levels of nitrates that are widespread in industrial wastewater and polluted groundwater.
A study led by Rice chemical and biomolecular engineer Haotian Wang shows the process converts nitrate levels of 2,000 parts per million into ammonia, followed by an efficient gas stripping process for ammonia product collection. The remaining nitrogen contents after these treatments can be brought down to “drinkable” levels as defined by the World Health Organization.
“We fulfilled a complete water denitrification process,” said graduate student Feng-Yang Chen. “With further water treatment on other contaminants, we can potentially turn industrial wastewater back to drinking water.”
Post link
