A Release dated January 1, from the American Association for the Advancement of Science has indicated:
- “The Jan. 1 issue of Science reports that researchers have created a catalyst that can stabilize mixtures of liquids that don’t blend together naturally, like oil and water, while simultaneously speeding up reactions that could help optimize biofuel refining techniques in the future. Steven Crossley and colleagues prepared a special group of nanoparticles by fusing hydrophobic, or water-hating, carbon nanotubes to silica, which is hydrophilic, or attracted to water.”
More from the Release dated January 1, sourced from American Association for the Advancement of Science:
Toward more efficient biofuel refining
The Jan. 1 issue of Science reports that researchers have created a catalyst that can stabilize mixtures of liquids that don’t blend together naturally, like oil and water, while simultaneously speeding up reactions that could help optimize biofuel refining techniques in the future. Steven Crossley and colleagues prepared a special group of nanoparticles by fusing hydrophobic, or water-hating, carbon nanotubes to silica, which is hydrophilic, or attracted to water. This combination of polar opposites causes the nanoparticles to gather at the interface between the oil and water. By depositing palladium, a metallic catalyst, onto one side of the nanoparticles or the other, the researchers could then tune which liquid the palladium reacted with. Crossley and his colleagues found that the nanoparticles, adorned with palladium, reacted with three different substrates that are used in biomass refining. This method improves upon previous catalytic systems used to refine biomass because these solid nanoparticles catalyze the reactions completely, and they are easily recoverable at the end of each reaction. A Perspective by David Cole-Hamilton describes this catalyst in greater detail.
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Article #11: “Solid Nanoparticles the Catalyze Biofuel Upgrade Reactions at the Water/Oil Interface,” by S. Crossley; J. Faria; M. Shen; D.E. Resasco at University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK.
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