The discovery could significantly reduce the use of rare, expensive metals in factories, the authors said. Professor Sun Jian and his colleagues at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning, shot a copper target with a jet of hot, electrically charged argon gas. The fast-moving ionised particles blasted copper atoms off the target. The atoms cooled down and condensed on the surface of a collecting device, producing a thin layer of sand.
Each grain of the sand had a diameter of only a few nanometres, or a thousandth of the size of a bacterium. The researchers put the material in a reaction chamber and used it as a catalyst to turn coal to alcohol, a sophisticated and difficult chemical process that only precious metals can handle efficiently.
Copper has a similar weight and look to gold. For centuries it has attracted alchemists who saw it as a gateway to instant riches. Its density remains the same as ordinary copper. But the process could prove lucrative and provide a significant boost for Chinese industries, according to the researchers. Precious metals remain central to modern economies. The components of electronic devices, for instance, contain a large amount of gold, silver, and platinum. His love of reporting is second only to his gaming addiction.
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