The American Department of Energy's Brookhaven national laboratory has succeeded in making a model of the ruthenium sulphide (RuS₂) catalyst, in a bid to discover why it is so good at removing sulphur from fuels.

The removal of sulphur from fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, allows a cleaner and more efficient burn. A common method of facilitating its removal is the addition of hydrogen with a catalyst, in order to release hydrogen sulphide (H₂S).  Recent research found RuS₂ to be a hundred times more active than the catalyst commonly used for this 'hydrodesulphurisation' reaction.  However, it has been extremely difficult to study the catalyst’s behaviour because the reaction takes place at high temperatures and pressures.  The Brookhaven model overcomes this by using nanoparticles of ruthenium sulphide supported on an inert gold surface, which allows the process to be studied using classic surface chemistry techniques.

One of the scientists pursuing the research, Tanhong Cai, said 'if we can understand why this catalyst is so active, we might be able to make it even better, or use what we learn to design other highly efficient catalysts.