WKU associate professor of physics makes greener catalysts using laser nanosculpture

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Dr. Ali Er, associate professor of physics at Western Kentucky University, has been awarded a Petroleum Research Fund grant in the amount of $70,000.

According to a release by WKU, the fund is administered by the American Chemical Society, and Er’s research “should produce more efficient energy use from hydrocarbons.”

The release states the project will develop a new laser-based method to make nanoparticles of platinum-nickel (Pt-Ni) for use as high-performance catalysts in hydrocarbon conversion reactions for energy efficiency.

The university states that, while using “temporally shaped picosecond laser pulses,” it aims to “achieve precise control of nanoparticle structure and composition, leading to more efficient and durable catalysts.

Er said, “We use quite powerful laser pulses which last only trillionths of a second to fine-tune catalyst structures with extraordinary precision. These ultrafast pulses deliver energy in a controlled way, allowing us to ‘sculpt’ materials at the nanoscale without chemicals. Each pulse packs enormous power, comparable to the entire U.S. electric grid, but released for just a tiny fraction of a second, making it possible to build cleaner, more efficient catalysts for energy and chemical processes.”

Both graduate and undergraduate students will participate in the project, gaining hands-on experience in advanced laser synthesis, materials characterization and catalytic testing.

A key goal is to train the next generation of scientists through active involvement in each stage of research.