Contacts:                                                                                            For release: Oct. 10, 2012
James Evans, 515-294-1638
Igor Slowing, 515-294-6220
Marek Pruski, 515-294-2017
Laura Millsaps, Public Affairs, 515-294-3474

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory are learning more about how nano-scale catalytic systems work, and their research could be the key to improved processes for refining biofuels and producing other chemicals.

Nanospheres, tiny spheres of silica with a honeycomb of tunnels, or pores, throughout their structure and embedded with catalytic groups, were developed in the last decade as a solution to finding a reusable catalyst for converting biomass into fuel.

While scientists are now able to produce these nanospheres in ways that control the size of the pores and the type and position of the catalytic groups, understanding precisely how these chemical reactions take place will allow further fine-tuning and predictable control of catalytic processes.

A collaborative team of scientists at the laboratory’s Division of Chemical and Biological Sciences have determined that though these particles were designed with hollow passages specifically to maximize the surface area available for chemical reactions, these reactions don’t happen uniformly across the entire surface area of the particle.

 These issues prompted James Evans to develop a new theoretical model which allows better predictions of how these complex systems will behave. Evans is an Ames Laboratory faculty scientist and Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University who specializes in theoretical and computational tools for understanding non-equilibrium processes, including catalysis,

He describes the reaction behavior as being similar to a busy grocery store, where customers roam multiple aisles, grabbing items off the shelves.  Because the aisles get pretty full of customers throughout, most of the action will occur near the ends of the aisles, where shoppers can get in easily, grab items, and leave easily. Shoppers in the middle of the aisles will have a harder time passing each other and getting out of the aisle with their items. In the same way, the chemical reactions deep within the pores are limited.

“The catchphrase we use to describe restricted passing in narrow pores (or aisles) is single file diffusion. In this situation, reaction is controlled by the random or stochastic nature of molecular motion near the pore openings.  So traditional reaction-diffusion equations which do not incorporate these stochastic features fail completely to describe reaction behavior,” said Evans.

“Suitably refining traditional equations to incorporate stochastic behavior provides an efficient and reliable model to describe dependence of reaction behavior on key system parameters and guides the experimentalist in thinking about the design of nanoporous materials,” said Evans.

Evans and graduate students David M. Ackerman and Jing Wang published their findings in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.

Igor Slowing, a scientist at the laboratory who synthesizes the particles and performs reaction studies demonstrated a dramatic decrease in catalytic yield with decreasing pore diameter. This is consistent with general expectations of transport limitations in these reaction systems for narrow pores, and with the perception that  most of the "action" occurs near pore openings.

“What Jim has done is develop a model to help us understand better what key properties we need to change in the material to get the desired results,” said Slowing.

“You can imagine there are several possible remedies for what we are observing,” said Marek Pruski, the Ames Laboratory scientist who heads up the research team. Pruski specializes in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of the nano-scale particles. “You can adjust the pore diameter to facilitate passing, or reduce the aspect ratio so that pores are better utilized.”

The limitations in reaction efficiency predicted by the model developed by Evans and his co-workers were confirmed in a recent Ames Laboratory study oriented to optimize a reaction routinely used in chemical manufacturing and biofuel production. This study combined new NMR methods with kinetic and surface analyses to detect the formation of catalyst inhibitors that tend to reduce the size of the pores, down to a point they behave similar to a case of single file diffusion. The researchers found that increasing the pore size by less than one nanometer improved the activity more than twenty times. Further modifications to the catalyst allowed the researchers to prevent the formation of inhibitors, which  eliminates the bottleneck without making the pore wider.

The study, written by Slowing, Pruski, and a team of scientists from Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University’s Chemistry Department, was published in the Journal of Catalysis.

“What really inhibits the performance of these systems is poorly understood or misunderstood, and that’s why the research being done here is so fundamentally important,” said Pruski. “Ultimately, if we want to improve the catalysts, we need to have a clear understanding of the basic phenomena taking place within the pores.

The research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.  DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website at science.energy.gov/.

The Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory operated by Iowa State University. The Ames Laboratory creates innovative materials, technologies and energy solutions. We use our expertise, unique capabilities and interdisciplinary collaborations to solve global problems.

Contact:                                                                                        For release: Oct. 5, 2012
Tom Lograsso, Ames Lab, 515-294-8452
Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi, Public Affairs, 515-294-5643

Ames, IA – Thomas Lograsso has been named Interim Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.  The appointment is for one year.

Lograsso replaces Bruce Harmon, who stepped down from the position of Ames Laboratory Deputy Director on September 1 to return to research and teaching at Ames Lab and Iowa State University.  Harmon had been the Deputy Director for 17 years.

Lograsso will serve as Interim Deputy Director while the Laboratory evaluates its senior leadership structure.  Lograsso will add the duties to his current position as Director of the Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering at the Ames Laboratory, a position he’s held since 2010.  Lograsso has been a research scientist at the Ames Laboratory since 1988. 

“Tom has a long and distinguished record of service to the Ames Laboratory, including the leadership of its largest and most complex scientific division, and I am very pleased that he has agreed to serve as our Deputy Director during a period that has great potential for changing the Lab,” said Ames Laboratory Director Alex King.   “His familiarity with the Lab's operations will be immensely valuable, and his understanding of the Lab's scientific programs will make him a strong spokesman for our scientific agenda.”

Lograsso’s research interests include solid-liquid phase equilibria, solid-solid phase interactions, quasicrystalline alloys, kinetics of phase transitions, and synthesis of single crystals of intermetallics, magneto-responsive alloys and compounds.   Lograsso received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. 

“I am honored and excited to serve the Ames Laboratory in this position as it begins the search for a new Deputy Director.” Lograsso said. 

The Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory operated by Iowa State University. The Ames Laboratory creates innovative materials, technologies and energy solutions. We use our expertise, unique capabilities and interdisciplinary collaborations to solve global problems.

Company uses Ames Laboratory-developed technology to make titanium powder

Contacts:                                                                                          For release: Oct.2, 2012
Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi, Ames Laboratory, 515-294-9750
Andy Heidloff, IPAT, 515-294-9159
Joel Rieken, IPAT, 515-294-9159

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies, a start-up company based on technology developed at the Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, has won the 2012 John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan Competition. 

The competition honors top business plans of companies in business for four years or less, with an aim of stimulating business development. The prize includes $25,000 in seed money.

“This competition was a great opportunity to develop our commercialization pathway, and the assistance we received from the Iowa State University John Pappajohn Entrepreneurship Center was invaluable,” said Joel Rieken, co-founder of Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies.  “The award certainly reaffirms our business model and provides us with more confidence as we move forward.” Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies plans to

From left: IPAT co-founder Andrew Heidloff, IPAT business developer Doug Moore, John Pappajohn and IPAT co-founder Joel Rieken.

use several Ames Lab-developed technologies to make fine spherical titanium powder for use in military, biomedical and aerospace applications. Their process will increase the efficiency of the titanium powder making process and, thus, lower the cost of the powder to manufacturers.

Titanium’s strength, light weight, biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion make it ideal for use in a variety of parts. But, working with titanium can be difficult when casting parts because molten titanium tends to react with the materials used to form machine molds. To address that, Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies will instead use gas atomization of titanium, which makes a fine, spherical powder form of titanium. Manufacturers can then press the powder together at high temperatures.

“In addition to getting around the difficulties with using molten titanium, using titanium powder has the benefits of conserving processing time and energy, and it produces less waste material,” said Andy Heidloff, co-founder of Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies. “The overall process is better, except for the current problems of higher cost and lower availability of titanium powder. But those are the two problems IPAT is seeking to solve.”

In Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies’ process for titanium atomization, the metal is melted using a standard commercial process then heated and precisely guided by an Ames Laboratory-developed pour tube into a high intensity atomization nozzle, also developed at Ames Lab. The metal is then sprayed out in a fine droplet mist. Each droplet quickly cools and solidifies, creating a collection of many tiny spheres, forming fine titanium powder.

“IPAT’s technology allows lightweight, high-strength parts to be fabricated at low cost,” said Ames Laboratory Director Alex King. “These parts can be used in biomedical implants as well as in energy-efficient cars, planes and trains.”

Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies plans to use the John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan Competition prize winnings to further develop its business strategy, including a series of tests to determine how large they can scale the operation. 

Earlier this year IPAT also was a winner of the Department of Energy’s America’s Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge, which recognizesd some of the most innovative and promising startup companies that took an option to license DOE-funded technologies through the America’s Next Top Energy Innovator program.

The DOE Office of Science, the DOE Office of Fossil Energy, and the Iowa State University Research Foundation funded the original research on the gas atomizer technologies developed at Ames Laboratory.

To learn about Ames Laboratory technologies available for licensing, visit the ISU Research Foundation’s web site at http://www.techtransfer.iastate.edu/en/for_industry/technology_search/search.cfm. Enter “Ames Lab” in the search field. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy also sponsors a searchable database of the national laboratories' energy technologies available for licensing, and patents and patent applications: http://techportal.eere.energy.gov. Enter “Ames Laboratory” in the search field.

The Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory operated by Iowa State University. The Ames Laboratory creates innovative materials, technologies and energy solutions. We use our expertise, unique capabilities and interdisciplinary collaborations to solve global problems.

Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies is an Iowa-based start-up company whose goal is to use advanced processing techniques to create a paradigm shift in the cost and availability of high-quality spherical titanium powders.