The Controlling Light
Scientists can now manipulate x-ray light using visible light, removing the need for inefficient and expensive optics that other approaches must use.
New X-Ray Matter Interaction Observed at Ultra-High Intensity
Researchers found that the details of an extremely rare, but fundamental, process, in which two packets of light scatter simultaneously from a single electron deviated dramatically from expectations.
Photoelectrodes Revealed!
To "turn" sunlight into chemical fuels, scientists are investigating a junction inside designer solar cells. The connection is difficult to probe. Scientists devised a probe and found that the junction promotes the release of electrons and suppresses unwanted reactions.
Inducing Separation
Some efforts to improve solar panel efficiency by focusing on surface plasmons, light waves trapped on a metal surface, but the processes didn't prove to be highly efficient. Researchers found that plasmon induced hot electron transfer could take a more efficient route.
Nature and the Nurture of Aerosols
Led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, scientists conducted a collaborative study that answered foundational questions about how nature influences the composition of aerosols. The team's findings could help avoid unintended consequences in both regulations and remediation.
Nature-Inspired Nanotubes That Assemble Themselves, with Precision
A new family of nature-inspired materials that, when placed in water, spontaneously assemble into nanotubes is the latest in the effort to use synthetic polymers to precisely build durable nanotubes that approach the complexity and function of nature's proteins.
Making a One-Way Street for Electricity
To create circuits the size of molecules, scientists need molecular diodes that let current travel in one direction, but not another. Scientists restructured a carbon-based diode that is 1,000 times more effective at conducting current in one direction than the other.
A New Family Member for 2D Nanomaterials
For the first time, scientists introduced an ionic semiconductor to the family of 2D nanomaterials. As an ionic material, it has special properties that graphene and other 2D nanomaterials don't have.
Only the Good Shall Pass: Battery with a Built-in Bouncer
Flow batteries offer low-cost energy storage, but the battery's membrane reduces its operating life and efficiency. Scientists made a better membrane.
Jet Tomography of Hot Matter
Using information on the propagation and attenuation of fast particles coming from the collisions of high-energy nuclei, nuclear physicists can extract transport properties of the hot, dense matter.
New Radars for Estimating Rainfall Installed at ARM Sites
State-of-the-art weather radars were installed at Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility sites.
Demonstrating Strong Electric Fields in Liquid Helium for Tests of Matter-Antimatter Symmetry
Physicists and engineers demonstrated that it is possible to use liquid helium to apply an electric field several times larger than that used in previous neutron electric dipole moment experiments, which provides insights into the nature of the universe.
More Efficient Conversion of Water to Hydrogen Fuels
Scientists built enzymes that efficiently produce hydrogen, one half of the "holy grail" of splitting water to make hydrogen to fuel cars.
New Technique Shows Protein Changes in Intact Microbial Communities
Thanks to a new technique, scientists can analyze proteins collected from an intact microbial community, gaining insights into how the broader system works.
"Electrolyte Balloons" Make Rechargeable Batteries Safer
A new protective barrier can prevent lithium-metal batteries from failing. The barrier allows the electrode to work at room temperature and hampers the detrimental formation of dendrites. Scientists made this film.
Graphene Rewrites the Rules of Engagement
Scientists discovered a self-assembly mechanism that surprisingly drives negatively charged molecules to clump together to form islands when graphene is supported by an electrical insulator.
Modeling Choices and the Effects of Water Runoff on Plant Productivity
Scientists modeled runoff using two widely adopted methods. They found that the modeling choices result in differences that ultimately swing results in carbon cycle simulations--by as much as 20%.
Novel Porous Materials Made From Flexible "Spaghetti-Like" Molecules
Scientists changed our understanding of metal-organic frameworks. They uprooted the belief that these frameworks must be made from rigid starting materials.
Getting Light in Shape with Metamaterials
Converting light from one wavelength to a shorter wavelength is typically inefficient. To tackle that inefficiency, a team built a structure with metallic cavities that improves the light conversion efficiency by orders of magnitude.
Atomic Blimp Stretches a Crystal
Scientists stretched a crystal lattice in just one dimension, allowing them to tune the structure's electronic and magnetic properties.
Modeling Sunlight Harvesting in Nanostructures
To create the next generation of solar panels, scientists must model how complex interactions occur. Modeling across different scales provides needed insights. In a review article, scientists assessed the state of the art for calculations used to model electronic states in very thin films.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Super-Ion Building Blocks
More efficient solar cells will likely be based on a family of materials known as hybrid perovskites. Scientists identified how to control different properties and stability in these solar cell materials using lead-free preparation.
New Imaging Technique Sees Elements that Are "Invisible" to Common Methods
Molecular Foundry scientists developed a new imaging technique that greatly improves images of light elements by fewer electrons in electron microscopy.
Revealing the Fluctuations of Flexible DNA in 3D
For the first time, scientists captured high-resolution 3D images from individual double-helix DNA segments attached at either end to gold nanoparticles, potentially valuable information about disease-relevant proteins and DNA assembly.
Boron Boosts Graphene's Sensitivity to Noxious Gases
Researchers discovered a way to significantly improve graphene's performance in detecting noxious gases. They peppered high-quality sheets with boron impurities.