Researchers identify syngas catalysts with 100 times the conventional surface area
Researchers at Ames Lab are reporting that they have developed metallic alloy-based mesoporous nanospheres, akin to microscopic sponge balls with thousands of channels running though them, to increase the surface area of syngas catalysts by 100 times. The research team had previously found that ethanol yields from syngas can be increased if the surface area of catalysts, which activate carbon monoxide molecules, could also be increased to increase CO adsorption on the catalyst surface.
In related news, researchers at Oxford Catalysts have developed a cobalt-based catalyst that can increase yields from the Fischer-Tropsch biomass-to-fuel process. Fuel yields from the F-T process have typically been in the 42 gallons per tonne of biomass range, making F-T uneconomic in many cases.
