U.S. Department of Energy Research News

Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
August 2013 story tips from Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The following are story ideas from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for August 2013.

Public Release: 1-Aug-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Geoscientists unearth mineral-making secrets potentially useful for new technologies
Proteins have gotten most of the attention in studies of how organic materials control the initial step of making the first tiny crystals that organisms use to build structures that help them move and protect themselves. Virginia Tech researchers have discovered that certain types of sugars, known as polysaccharides, may also control the timing and placement of minerals that animals use to produce hard structures.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 1-Aug-2013

Science
CU-Boulder team develops new water splitting technique that could produce hydrogen fuel
A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 31-Jul-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Berkeley Lab researchers discover universal law for light absorption in 2D semiconductors
Berkeley Lab researchers have demonstrated a universal law of light absorption for 2D semiconductors. This discovery not only provides new insight into the optical properties of 2D semiconductors and quantum wells, it should also open doors to exotic new optoelectronic and photonic technologies.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Applied Physics Letters
Lawrence Livermore engineering team makes breakthrough in solar energy research
The use of plasmonic black metals could someday provide a pathway to more efficient photovoltaics -- the use of solar panels containing photovoltaic solar cells -- to improve solar energy harvesting, according to researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Public Release: 29-Jul-2013

Nano Letters
Tetrapod nanocrystals light the way to stronger polymers
Berkeley Lab researchers have developed advanced opto-mechanical stress probes based on tetrapod quantum dots (tQDs) that allow precise measurement of the tensile strength of polymer fibers with minimal impact on the polymer's mechanical properties. These fluorescent tQDs could lead to stronger, self-repairing polymer nanocomposites.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 29-Jul-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
How does hydrogen metallize?
Hydrogen is deceptively simple. It has only a single electron per atom, but it powers the sun and forms the majority of the observed universe. As such, it is naturally exposed to the entire range of pressures and temperatures available in the whole cosmos. But researchers still struggle to understand even basic aspects of its various forms under high-pressure conditions. New work makes significant additions to our understanding of this vital element's high-pressure behavior.

EFree, US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 28-Jul-2013

Nature Materials
Speed limit set for ultrafast electrical switch
Researchers from the US Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have clocked the fastest-possible electrical switching in magnetite, a naturally magnetic mineral. Their results could drive innovations in the tiny transistors that control the flow of electricity across silicon chips, enabling faster, more powerful computing devices.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 21-Jul-2013

Nature Materials
Paper-thin e-skin responds to touch by lighting up
UC Berkeley engineers have created a new e-skin that responds to touch by instantly lighting up. The more intense the pressure, the brighter the light it emits. The material is the first sensor network on flexible plastic that is user-interactive.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 19-Jul-2013

Nano Letters
Purple sunlight eaters
A protein found in the membranes of ancient microorganisms that live in desert salt flats could offer a new way of using sunlight to generate environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel, according to a new study by researchers at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Nano Letters
Stanford scientists break record for thinnest light-absorber
Stanford scientists have built the thinnest, most efficient absorber of visible light on record, a nanosize structure that could lead to less-costly, more efficient, solar cells.

US Department of Energy/Center on Nanostructuring for Efficient Energy Conversion, Marcus & Amalia Wallenberg Foundation

Public Release: 18-Jul-2013

Science
Penn researchers help show new way to study and improve catalytic reactions
A study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Trieste and Brookhaven National Laboratory has shown a way to precisely design the active elements of a certain class of catalysts, showing which parameters are most critical for improving performance. This highly controlled process could be a new paradigm for fine-tuning catalysts used in everything from making new materials to environmental remediation.

COST, US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Public Release: 17-Jul-2013

Nature
Elastic electronics: Stretchable gold conductor grows its own wires
Networks of spherical nanoparticles embedded in elastic materials may make the best stretchy conductors yet, engineering researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered.

STX Foundation, US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Public Release: 16-Jul-2013

ACS Nano
Broadband photodetector for polarized light
Using carpets of aligned carbon nanotubes, researchers from Rice University and Sandia National Laboratories have created a solid-state electronic device that is hardwired to detect polarized light across a broad swath of the visible and infrared spectrum.

Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, Welch Foundation

Public Release: 14-Jul-2013

Nature Physics
Imaging electron pairing in a simple magnetic superconductor
Using a technique to measure the energy required for electrons to pair up and how that energy varies with direction, scientists have identified the factors needed for magnetically mediated superconductivity -- as well as those that aren't.

Department of Energy Office of Science, UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Public Release: 10-Jul-2013
Wind power does not strongly affect greater prairie chickens, 7-year study finds
Wind power development does not ruffle the feathers of greater prairie chicken populations, according to a seven-year study from a Kansas State University ecologist and his team. They found that grassland birds are more affected by rangeland management practices and by the availability of native prairie and vegetation cover at nest sites.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 9-Jul-2013
NREL research earns 3 prestigious R&D 100 Awards
A new energy-efficient approach to building occupancy detection, a better way to detect heat loss in electric-vehicle batteries and a high-efficiency silicon solar cell � all developed or advanced at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory -- have been named among this year's most significant innovations by R&D Magazine.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 9-Jul-2013
ORNL wins 6 R&D 100s
Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received six R&D 100 awards, presented each year by R&D Magazine in recognition of the year's most significant technological innovations.

Public Release: 8-Jul-2013

Physical Review Letters
An unlikely competitor for diamond as the best thermal conductor
Researchers from Boston College and the Naval Research Lab report the potential for boron arsenide to challenge the extraordinarily high thermal conductivity of diamond, which could pave the way for a more plentiful and affordable alternative to cooling high tech devices.

National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 2-Jul-2013
July 2013 story tips
These tips are about: ENERGY � Big voltage, little package METALLURGY - Graphite foam expansion ENERGY � CoNNECT promotes savings MATERIALS - Safer batteries CLIMATE - Blogging from the Arctic.

Public Release: 2-Jul-2013

Journal of the American Chemical Society
New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel
A discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may represent a significant advance in the quest to create a "hydrogen economy" that would use this abundant element to store and transfer energy.

US Department of Energy/Basic Energy Sciences Program

Public Release: 2-Jul-2013

FEBS Letters
Scientists identify promising antiviral compounds
Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified two promising candidates for the development of drugs against human adenovirus, a cause of ailments ranging from colds to gastrointestinal disorders to pink eye. The researchers sifted through thousands of compounds to determine which might block the effects of a key viral enzyme they had previously studied in atomic-level detail.

National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 1-Jul-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Surprise superconductor
Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity -- maintain a flow of electrons -- without any resistance. This phenomenon can only be found in certain materials under specific low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. New research found unexpected superconductivity that could help scientists better understand the structural changes that create this rare phenomenon.

National Science Foundation, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Deep Carbon Observatory, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 27-Jun-2013

Nano Letters
Tiny nanocubes help scientists tell left from right
A team of scientists at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Ohio University has developed a new, simpler way to discern molecular handedness, known as chirality, which could improve drug development, optical sensors and more.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 27-Jun-2013

Angewandte Chemie
Chemists work to desalt the ocean for drinking water, 1 nanoliter at a time
By creating a small electrical field that removes salts from seawater, chemists have introduced a new method for the desalination of seawater that consumes less energy and is dramatically simpler than conventional techniques. The new method requires so little energy that it can run on a store-bought battery.

US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency