For the first time, researchers have captured nanoscale video footage of hydrogen and oxygen atoms combining into water out of "thin air" — thanks to a rare metal catalyst. The super-efficient reaction, which could one day help astronauts make water in space, also produced the smallest bubble of water ever seen, researchers say.
The video was part of a new study, published Sept. 27 in the journal PNAS, in which researchers tested how palladium catalyzes a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen gases to create water in standard lab conditions. The team studied this reaction with a new type of monitoring apparatus that captured the process in extraordinary detail.
