The researchers were mixing organic nitrogen - rich compounds
with nickel atoms and water.
Not exact matches
If that field interacts
with itself, then, as the infant universe expanded and cooled, the field may have taken on a value or «phase,» which would be a bit like the direction in which
nickel atoms point.
Based on the results from the studies at Harvard, NSLS - II, CFN, and additional institutions, the scientists discovered single
nickel atoms catalyzed the CO2 conversion reaction
with a maximal of 97 percent efficiency.
In addition to the unique energetic properties of single
atoms, the CO2 conversation reaction was facilitated by the interaction of the
nickel atoms with a surrounding sheet of graphene.
«The
nickel fragments that sputter off of the pellet react
with the oxygen
atoms to produce an oxidized form of
nickel that gets deposited onto the semiconductor,» Lewis says.
The path chemists have most sided
with involves the
nickel atom on the enzyme directly attacking the methyl group and stealing it from coenzyme M.
For the battery experiment, the researchers coated the spiky
nickel particles
with graphene, an
atom - thick layer of carbon, and embedded the particles in a thin film of elastic polyethylene.
A pendant amine moves a proton into position on the edge of the catalyst, while a
nickel atom in the middle of the catalyst offers a hydrogen
atom with an extra electron (that's a proton and two electrons for those counting).