Catalytic Adventures in an X-ray Playground

Catalysts are the unsung heroes of our modern age. Working tirelessly behind the scenes, they find many applications that touch our lives, from producing the fertilizers that sustain the global population, to breaking down toxic chemicals to reduce pollution. To design the next generation of catalysts, researchers must understand at the atomic level how a catalyst operates over time. This hard-fought knowledge takes more than individual engineers and chemists working in their own university laboratories to obtain. Seeing the catalyst function at this level of detail requires state-of-the-art X-ray techniques such as those found at SLAC’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL). Here at SSRL, we utilize a suite of tools that combine X-ray and catalysis science to follow the atomic level changes of a working catalyst over time. By developing these tools and providing them to scientists from across the United States, we enable a catalysis community, tackling grand challenges, and advancing the DOE mission. In this talk, I will introduce the basics of catalysis and one of the powerful methods provided by SSRL’s X-rays. I will then present, as an illustration, new insights that our community has discovered for the conversion of CO and CO2 into alternative fuels and other useful products.

Join us at the Kavli Building or online. Registration is required if you plan to attend in person.

Site entry will be allowed starting at 6:30 p.m. Proceed directly to the Kavli Building to check in.

We will also be streaming the lecture live on our YouTube Channel. You do not need to register if you plan to watch online.

Click here for more information about the SLAC Public Lectures.

About the Speaker:

A native east-coaster, Adam Hoffman has a passion for playing board games, gardening, and tinkering to answer the question, “how does it work, and can I take it apart?” This curiosity started out as a kid disassembling radios and followed him into his academic career. Adam received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Villanova University before moving west to complete his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of California, Davis. Adam started his adventure at SLAC during graduate school when he used the X-ray beams of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) to show how small changes in the organization of atoms in a catalyst can have a large impact in how it performs. This work gave fundamental insights into the catalyst's operation while also pushing the limits of X-ray measurement capabilities. After graduation, he joined SLAC as a postdoctoral fellow. He is now a staff scientist at SSRL, where he bridges the X-ray physics and catalysis science worlds, developing experimental and analytical methods and hosting experiments that make use of these capabilities. These new techniques enable the catalysis community to carry out some of the most complex catalysis experiments now performed, and now, thanks to Adam and others like him, SLAC is at the center of it all!

Attend In Person:

The public lecture will be held in person at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, in the Kavli Auditorium in the Kavli Building (B51). Parking is free and can be found in front of the Science and User Support Building (B53). Doors open and site entry will be allowed starting at 6:30 p.m. Bring your registration ticket (printed or shown on phone) and a valid government ID (REAL ID or passport) for site entry. Proceed directly to the Kavli Building to check in.

Registered guests should arrive before 6:50 pm to secure a seat in the auditorium. After 6:50 pm, waitlist and walk-up guests will be admitted if space is available due to registered guest no-shows. The lecture will start promptly at 7 p.m. and conclude at 8 p.m. There will be opportunities to chat with the scientists following the event. Registration is required if you plan to attend the lecture in person. The deadline to register is Wednesday, August 6, 2025.

In order for SLAC to provide a safe environment for the public and our employees, and expedite access to the event, no handbags or backpacks larger than 12"x6"x12" will be allowed inside the venue. Exceptions to this policy will be made for all medically necessary items after proper inspection from SLAC-badged staff. To join the public lecture in person, you are required to follow all protocols and instructions from SLAC staff.