Pioneering at an atomic level

Editor's note: China Daily is publishing a series illustrating the country's efforts to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals Zhang Tao shares his thoughts on the spirit of good scientists as he introduces the development of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences during a scientists' seminar in Beijing in March. Provided to CHINA DAILY For award-winning academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Zhang Tao, scientific research involves two pursuits — making results available to be further developed to serve society, and making results available in academic papers for further study around the world. "Catalysis is a core technology in the chemical industry, which can accelerate chemical reaction rates, and over 80 percent of chemical processes are related to catalytic technology," Zhang said. In the 1980s, foreign experts discovered that when gold particle size is reduced to three to four nanometers, gold powder becomes highly active and can promote catalytic reactions, sparking a nanocatalysis trend," Zhang explained.