Credit: Charlie Tsai/ Stanford University
Illustration of a catalyst being bombarded with argon atoms to create holes where chemical reactions can take place. The catalyst is molybdenum disulfide, or MoS2. The bombardment removed about one-tenth of the sulfur atoms (yellow) on its surface. Researchers then draped the holey catalyst over microscopic bumps to change the spacing of the atoms in a way that made the catalyst even more active.