image credit:CNR-IOM/SISSA
(Februry 29, 2016) A
NEW STUDY INCREASES THE EFFICIENCY OF CATALYSTS
New technologies are starved for efficient and inexpensive
catalysts. The best materials are made up of nanoparticles, whose properties are
the result of their small size. The single catalyst particles have, however, an
ugly tendency to cluster into larger particles, thereby reducing their
effectiveness. A group of scientists from the International School of Advanced
Studies in Trieste and the DEMOCRITOS centre of the Istituto Officina dei
Materiali of the Italian National Research Council (IOM-CNR), with the
collaboration of other institutions, have developed a material that maintains
the stability of a “dispersed” catalyst, thus maximising the efficiency of the
process and decreasing costs and wastage.