Scientists Solve a Magnesium Mystery in Rechargeable Battery Performance
A Berkeley Lab-led research team has discovered a surprising set of chemical reactions involving magnesium that degrade battery performance even before the battery can be charged up. The findings could steer the design of next-gen batteries.
Extreme Light Trapping
Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics, applied physics, and astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has built a nanostructure whose crystal lattice bends light as it enters the material and directs it in a path parallel to the surface, known as "parallel to interface refraction."
Researchers Customize Catalysts to Boost Product Yields, Decrease Chemical Separation Costs
For some crystalline catalysts, what you see on the surface is not always what you get in the bulk, according to two studies led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Innovative Design Using Loops of Liquid Metal Can Improve Future Fusion Power Plants, Scientists Say
Article describes proposed design for production of steady-state plasma in future fusion power plants.
Scientists Create Most Powerful Micro-Scale Bio-Solar Cell Yet
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have created a micro-scale biological solar cell that generates a higher power density for longer than any existing cell of its kind.
ESnet's Science DMZ Design Could Help Transfer, Protect Medical Research Data
As medicine becomes more data-intensive, Berkeley Lab & ESnet's Medical Science DMZ eyed as secure solution for transferring data
Breakthrough Cuttable, Flexible, Submersible and Ballistic-Tested Lithium-ion Battery Offers New Paradigm of Safety and Performance
Breakthrough Cuttable, Flexible, Submersible and Ballistic-Tested Lithium-ion Battery Offers New Paradigm of Safety and Performance
Chemical Treatment Improves Quantum Dot Lasers
One of the secrets to making tiny laser devices such as opthalmic surgery scalpels work even more efficiently is the use of tiny semiconductor particles, called quantum dots. In new research at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Nanotech Team, the ~nanometer-sized dots are being doctored, or "doped," with additional electrons, a treatment that nudges the dots ever closer to producing the desired laser light with less stimulation and energy loss.
Neutrons Observe Vitamin B6-Dependent Enzyme Activity Useful for Drug Development
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have performed neutron structural analysis of a vitamin B6-dependent protein, potentially opening avenues for new antibiotics and drugs to battle diseases such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria and diabetes. Specifically, the team used neutron crystallography to study the location of hydrogen atoms in aspartate aminotransferase, or AAT, an enzyme vital to the metabolism of certain amino acids.
Scientists Decode the Origin of Universe's Heavy Elements in the Light From a Neutron Star Merger
On Aug. 17, scientists around the globe were treated to near-simultaneous observations by separate instruments that would ultimately be confirmed as the first measurement of the merger of two neutron stars and its explosive aftermath.
PPPL Takes Detailed Look at 2-D Structure of Turbulence in Tokamaks
Article describes study of cross-correlation of turbulence in tokamaks.
New Method to Detect Spin Current in Quantum Materials Unlocks Potential for Alternative Electronics
A new method that precisely measures the mysterious behavior and magnetic properties of electrons flowing across the surface of quantum materials could open a path to next-generation electronics. A team of scientists has developed an innovative microscopy technique to detect the spin of electrons in topological insulators, a new kind of quantum material that could be used in applications such as spintronics and quantum computing.
Purple Power: Synthetic 'Purple Membranes' Transform Sunlight to Hydrogen Fuel
Argonne researchers have found a new way to produce solar fuels by developing "synthetic purple membranes." These membranes involve an assembly of lipid nanodiscs, man-made proteins, and semiconducting nanoparticles that, when taken together, can transform sunlight into hydrogen fuel.
Sandia Researchers Use Direct Numerical Simulations to Enhance Combustion Efficiency and Reduce Pollution in Diesel Engines
A "cool flame" may sound contradictory, but it's an important element of diesel combustion -- one that, once properly understood, could enable better engine designs with higher efficiency and fewer emissions.
Converting Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide Using Water, Electricity
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis have determined how electrocatalysts can convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using water and electricity. The discovery can lead to the development of efficient electrocatalysts for large scale production of synthesis gas -- a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
International Team Reconstructs Nanoscale Virus Features from Correlations of Scattered X-rays
Berkeley Lab researchers contributed key algorithms which helped scientists achieve a goal first proposed more than 40 years ago - using angular correlations of X-ray snapshots from non-crystalline molecules to determine the 3D structure of important biological objects.
Bio-Methane Transforms From Landfill Waste to Energy Source
Most manure just sits around. Anaerobic digesters take those piles and place them in large covered tanks and convert waste into an energy source. Chemical engineers from Michigan Tech examined the carbon footprint of anaerobic digestion.
Injecting Electrons Jolts 2-D Structure Into New Atomic Pattern
The same electrostatic charge that can make hair stand on end and attach balloons to clothing could be an efficient way to drive atomically thin electronic memory devices of the future, according to a new Berkeley Lab study. Scientists have found a way to reversibly change the atomic structure of a 2-D material by injecting it with electrons. The process uses far less energy than current methods for changing the configuration of a material's structure.
Ceramic Pump Moves Molten Metal at a Record 1,400 Degrees Celsius
A ceramic-based mechanical pump able to operate at record temperatures of more than 1,400 degrees Celsius (1,673 Kelvin) can transfer high temperature liquids such as molten tin, enabling a new generation of energy conversion and storage systems.
Tracking the Viral Parasites of Giant Viruses over Time
Viruses exist amidst all bacteria, usually in a 10-fold excess and include virophages which live in giant viruses and use their machinery to replicate and spread. In Nature Communications, a team including DOE JGI researchers reports effectively doubling the number of known virophages.
Scientists Develop Machine-Learning Method to Predict the Behavior of Molecules
An international, interdisciplinary research team of scientists has come up with a machine-learning method that predicts molecular behavior, a breakthrough that can aid in the development of pharmaceuticals and the design of new molecules that can be used to enhance the performance of emerging battery technologies, solar cells, and digital displays.
Solar-Powered Devices Made of Wood Could Help Mitigate Water Scarcity Crisis
Energy from the sun and a block of wood smaller than an adult's hand are the only components needed to heat water to its steaming point in these purifying devices.
Spin-Current Generation Gets Mid-IR Boost with Plasmonic Metamaterial
Researchers have begun to use metamaterials, engineered composites that have unique properties not found in nature, to enhance the absorption rates of plasmonic absorbers, and a team in Japan used a trilayered metamaterial to develop a wavelength-selective plasmonic metamaterial absorber on top of a spintronic device to enhance the generation of spin currents from the heat produced in the mid-infrared regime. The research is reported this week in APL Photonics.
Forget About It
Inspired by human forgetfulness - how our brains discard unnecessary data to make room for new information -- scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and three universities, conducted a recent study that combined supercomputer simulation and X-ray characterization of a material that gradually "forgets." This could one day be used for advanced bio-inspired computing.
Precise Radioactivity Measurements: A Controversy Settled
Simultaneous measurements of x-rays and gamma rays emitted in radioactive nuclear decays show that the vacancy left by an electron's departure, not the atomic structure, influences whether gamma rays are released.