Fast Nickel Catalyst Breaks Into College Textbook

(February 2014)

A nickel-based catalyst developed by scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis was discussed in Inorganic Chemistry.

Congratulations to the scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, who had their nickel-based catalyst discussed in Inorganic Chemistry, a popular undergraduate college textbook. Students will read about the catalyst, with two seven-membered cyclic diphoshine ligands attached to a nickel atom, that uses proton relays to efficiently make H₂. Designing catalysts with earth-abundant metals instead of platinum and other rare metals is a critical challenge for upcoming scientists if we are to store intermittent renewable energy and release it when needed.

The Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis is an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads the center.