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Researchers develop earth-abundant photocatalyst for conversion of ammonia into hydrogen

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A reaction cell (left) and the photocatalytic platform (right) used on tests of copper-iron plasmonic photocatalysts for hydrogen production from ammonia at Syzygy Plasmonics in Houston. —Hossein Robatjazi, chief scientist at Houston-based Syzygy Plasmonics. Courtesy of Syzygy Plasmonics, Inc.

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NSF awards $2M to Rice U collaboration to explore direct conversion of CO2 into fuels

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We intend to build an electrochemical modular system as a platform for a continuous conversion process of simulated flue gas to pure liquid fuels. Earlier this year, Wang received a three-year, $240,000 research grant from the Houston-based Robert A. We address both materials-level design and device-level engineering.

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Greyrock to build small-scale gas-to-liquids plant near Houston

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Greyrock Energy, a company transforming natural gas into premium transportation fuels ( earlier post ), announced a final investment decision (FID) to build a small-scale Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) facility near Houston, Texas. The plant will be commercially operational by the end of 2015.

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University of Houston team demonstrates new efficient solar water-splitting catalyst for hydrogen production

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Researchers from the University of Houston (UH) have developed a cobalt(II) oxide (CoO) nanocrystalline catalyst that can carry out overall water splitting with a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of around 5%. Even with an improved solar-to-hydrogen efficiency rate of around 5%, the conversion rate is still too low to be commercially viable.

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Study finds paved surfaces in Houston worsen air quality

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Paved surfaces in the Houston area keep the city warmer than more natural surfaces. ““The very existence of the Houston area favors stagnation.” The research team combined extensive atmospheric measurements with computer simulations to examine the impact of pavement on breezes in Houston. Credit: UCAR.

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U. Houston-led project looking for new exhaust treatment catalysts for low-temperature lean-burn combustion engines

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A chemical engineer from the University of Houston is leading a $2.1-million The challenge is to achieve high NO x conversion with minimal fuel penalty while sustaining long catalyst life. This is a complex system involving the abatement of a key pollutant contained in a time-varying feed utilizing a periodic catalytic process.

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Univ. Houston, Caltech team develops new earth-abundant, cost-effective catalyst for water-splitting

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A team of researchers from the University of Houston and the California Institute of Technology has developed an active and durable earth-abundant transition metal dichalcogenide-based hybrid catalyst for water-splitting that exhibits high hydrogen evolution activity approaching the state-of-the-art platinum catalysts.

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