"Revolutionizing Energy Efficiency and Carbon Control through Atomic-Scale Catalysis and Equations"

Chemical engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a breakthrough model of how catalytic reactions work at the atomic scale, which could allow engineers and chemists to develop more efficient catalysts and tune industrial processes, potentially with enormous energy savings. The researchers used powerful modelling techniques to simulate catalytic reactions at the atomic scale, looking at reactions involving transition metal catalysts in nanoparticle form. The new framework challenges the foundation of how researchers understand catalysis and how it takes place, and may apply to other non-metal catalysts as well.