Scientists finally see how nature moves energy so efficiently

Researchers have captured key steps in a chemical reaction that helps nature transfer energy with remarkable efficiency. Ultrafast X-rays revealed how changes involving electrons and protons are closely linked to the rearrangement of surrounding water molecules. Because similar reactions drive photosynthesis and other energy-conversion processes, the technique could help scientists develop better catalysts, fuel cells, and flow batteries.

Scientists finally see how nature moves energy so efficiently. Com Some of the most important reactions in nature depend on positively and negatively charged particles moving in a coordinated way. These reactions are essential to processes such as photosynthesis, catalysis and biological energy conversion, but they happen so quickly that they are extremely difficult to observe.

A team led by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, working with researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and several universities, has now captured snapshots of these events after they are triggered by light striking a molecule. The findings, published in Nature Communications, could deepen scientists’ understanding of these reactions and eventually contribute to improved flow batteries, fuel cells and catalysts. At the center of the study is the coordinated motion of positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons.