catalysts in the formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen gas. Emmett's thesis was on the autocatalysis of the nickel and iron metal oxide reduction reaction with hydrogen gas. In 1925 while at Caltech, Emmett and Linus Pauling published a paper together on the crystal structure of barium sulfate. Nitrogen fixation At the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, Emmett's research goals were to study nitrogen fixation and its applications to the production of fertilizer, food, and explosives. Emmett also studied the synthesis and decomposition of ammonia over iron catalysts and gaseous adsorption during his 11 years at this lab. He used stable nitrogen isotopes to study the mechanisms of the catalytic reactions. BET theory In conjunction with Stephen Brunauer and Edward Teller, Emmett developed the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller Theory which forms the basis for calculating the surface area of a material given the physical gaseous adsorption that takes place across the material's surface. Their theory was published in 1938 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and has been cited over 16,000 times. The ramifications of this theory are immense in the catalysis field and this theory is still the "most frequently used method for surface area determinations of porous carbons." Manhattan Project Emmett's lab focused on separating Uranium-235 and Uranium-238, as the first of five labs to work on the atomic bomb. They used a fluorocarbon polymeric barrier to separate the two isotopes via diffusion. The lab also sought to synthesize the corrosive uranium hexafluoride gas. However, this gas corroded through the material used to make it, so a researcher in Emmett's lab came up with a material that served as the predecessor to Teflon. Later in life, Emmett expressed great pride in his work on the Manhattan project. Petroleum research During his 11 years at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, much of Emmett's work was funded by Gulf Oil. Emmett improved on the Fischer-Tropsch process, a key process used to synthesize petroleum hydrocarbon substitutes. He used radioisotopes like Carbon-14 to study the mechanism of catalytic reactions. In the 1950s, Emmett's research transitioned toward the field of catalytic cracking in response to a concern in oil supply. Honors and awards 1939 - Honorary doctorate from Oregon State College 1953 - Pittsburgh Award from Pittsburgh, PA; awarded by the American Chemical Society 1955 - Elected to the National Academy of Sciences 1958 - Kendall Award from the American Chemical Society 1964