Tiny focus yields big rewards

John Watt hopes his research on palladium will make motor vehicles cheaper and less polluting. Photo / Richard Robinson

Tiny particles of precious metal could make cars cheaper and less polluting, thanks to the work of a young Wellington scientist.

Victoria University chemistry student John Watt was named MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the year last night for his PhD work on palladium.

The 27-year-old has developed a more efficient way to use palladium nano-particles - 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair - to "scrub" harmful gases from car exhausts.

Palladium is already used in car exhausts, but Mr Watt's new way of "growing" the particles means car companies could get the same or better results using smaller amounts.

The scientist said mining palladium was not very environmentally friendly, so anything that cut down its use was beneficial.

Palladium retails at up to $11,000 a kg, so using less could make cars' catalytic converters cheaper to produce.

The palladium particles work harder than ones used at the moment, which Mr Watt said were very inefficient because they get clogged up.

He researched how to force the particles to grow in a branch structure, rather than their natural cube shape.

The larger surface area which resulted meant the same amount of palladium could catch more carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide.

Mr Watt did not tell his mother of his award win, which comes with a $10,000 prize and an overseas trip. He planned to surprise her last night. He also got $5000 for winning the Future Science and Technology category.

In all, seven cash prizes were awarded to top post-graduate scientists in each category, as well as five runners-up. The awards - named after New Zealand's Nobel Prize-winning chemist, the late Alan MacDiarmid - are presented annually to postgraduates by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

Mr Watt said the process he developed could be carried out at room temperature, so it used less energy than traditional high-temperature methods.

He has already sent samples of nano-particles to a British precious metals supplier, Johnson Matthey, which is studying them for possible use in pollution-control systems.

Mr Watt said it was too early to say how much more pollution the new particles would clean from car exhausts, because they were yet to be tested outside the laboratory.

The Napier Boys' High old boy, now in the last year of his doctorate study, said he was attracted to studying nano-particles because of the unexpected things that happened when materials were taken to their tiny form.

He hoped his work would eventually cut the cost of cars. "That's the idea - to make it cheaper."

SCIENTISTS HONOURED FOR GROUND-BREAKING RESEARCH

Overall runner-up. Winner, Understanding Planet Earth: Amy Whitehead, University of Canterbury, Christchurch

Evaluated conservation efforts for whio, New Zealand's native blue duck, a threatened bird unique to mountain rivers. Combined population monitoring and habitat surveys with computer modelling to rate the effectiveness of existing conservation programmes, and guide future strategies.

Winner, Adding Value to Nature: Richard Espley, Plant and Food Research, Auckland

Identified the gene responsible for controlling anthocyanins, which help give fruit its colour and boost antioxidants. Understanding why, for example, apples have red flesh could speed up efforts to breed an unusually coloured, healthier New Zealand-bred apple variety. It could also be used to breed premium new varieties of other fruits.

Winner, Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing: Carlene Starck, Massey University, Palmerston North

Moved medical science closer to finding a cure for sporadic inclusion body myositis, a debilitating muscle-wasting disease in the elderly. Investigated the role of myostatin, a protein that plays an important role in regulating human muscle growth and development. Studied the protein's ability, under stress, to behave in a similar way to the protein "rebel" involved in Alzheimers disease.

Winner, Science and Our Society: Matthew Gerrie, Victoria University

Used eye-tracking technology to observe the eye movements of witnesses trying to identify the correct suspect in a line-up. Found that people began by scanning each face systematically, but quickly moved to comparing the faces to choose a suspect, often leading to incorrect identifications. Research could be used by police to help prevent innocent people being wrongly convicted.

Winner, Masters Level Award: Jui-Lin (Mickey) Fan, University of Otago

Investigated how brain blood flow regulates breathing and how it can be changed to control breathing patterns, thereby reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and sudden death in people with heart conditions.

Runner-up, Understanding Planet Earth: Dr Jason Tylianakis, University of Canterbury, Christchurch

Studied food webs involving bees, wasps and their natural enemies in coastal Ecuador. Now investigating how climate change is affecting food webs in New Zealand.

Runner-up, Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing: Dr Nathan Kerr, University of Auckland

Investigated proteins to help develop a treatment for optic nerve diseases such as glaucoma.

Runner-up, Science and Our Society: Petra Hoggarth, University of Canterbury, Christchurch

Studied whether off-road testing could predict on-road driving ability of a group of healthy drivers aged 70 and over.

Runner-up, Adding Value to Nature: Kerstin Burridge, Victoria University

Used nanoscience to grow tiny particles of gold onto wool fibres to produce "golden-wools" that can reflect a spectrum of colours.

Runner-up, Future Science and Technologies: Tobi Vaudrey, University of Auckland

Researched a high-tech system for cars to help their drivers avoid accidents. The system could eventually detect the location of pedestrians and other vehicles, and predict where they will move and how fast. Alarms will sound or the steering wheel might vibrate to alert the driver to an impending collision.