U.S. Department of Energy Research News

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
New all-solid sulfur-based battery outperforms lithium-ion technology
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today's electronics.

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Nature Communications
Resistivity switch is window to role of magnetism in iron-based superconductors
Physicists at the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have discovered surprising changes in electrical resistivity in iron-based superconductors. The findings offer further evidence that magnetism and superconductivity are closely related in this class of novel superconductors.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Journal of Physical Chemistry A
Life on Earth shockingly comes from out of this world
Early Earth was not very hospitable when it came to jump starting life. In fact, new research shows that life on Earth may have come from out of this world.

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Nature Communications
Increased NMR/MRI sensitivity through hyperpolarization of nuclei in diamond
Berkeley Lab researchers have demonstrated the first magnetically-controlled nearly complete hyperpolarization of the spins of carbon-13 nuclei located near synthetic defects in diamond crystals. This spin hyperpolarization, which can be carried out with refrigerator-style magnets at room temperature, enhances NMR/MRI sensitivity by many orders of magnitude.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013
Early career award supports physicist's quest for a top quark partner
A Kansas State University physicist has received the prestigious Department of Energy Early Career Research Award for his collaborative research involving the Large Hadron Collider.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

Journal of the American Ceramic Society
Roman seawater concrete holds the secret to cutting carbon emissions
At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source, scientists analyzed samples from a Roman breakwater submerged in the Bay of Naples for over two millennia, revealing the secrets of crystal chemistry that allow Roman seawater concrete to resist chemical attack and wave action for centuries. Materials and processes for manufacturing extraordinarily durable Roman maritime concrete released much less carbon than most modern concrete, presenting important opportunities for better quality and reduction of atmospheric carbon.

KAUST, Harvard/Loeb Classical Lib Foundation, US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

Nature Communications
Stanford scientists create novel silicon electrodes that improve lithium-ion batteries
Stanford University scientists have dramatically improved the performance of lithium-ion batteries by creating novel electrodes made of silicon and conducting polymer hydrogel, a spongy material similar to that used in contact lenses and other household products. The scientists developed a new technique for producing low-cost, silicon-based batteries with potential applications for a wide range of electrical devices.

Stanford University/Precourt Institute for Energy, US Department of Energy/SLAC

Public Release: 3-Jun-2013

Physical Review Letters
Dense hydrogen in a new light
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. The way it responds under extreme pressures and temperatures is crucial to our understanding of matter and the nature of hydrogen-rich planets. New work from Carnegie scientists using intense infrared radiation shines new light on this fundamental material at extreme pressures and reveals the details of a surprising new form of solid hydrogen.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 3-Jun-2013
June 2013 story tips
The following are story ideas from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for June 2013.

Public Release: 2-Jun-2013

Nature Materials
Printing innovations provide 10-fold improvement in organic electronics
SLAC and Stanford researchers have developed a new, printing process for organic thin-film electronics that results in films of strikingly higher quality.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 30-May-2013

Nature Geoscience
Water-rock reaction may provide enough hydrogen 'food' to sustain life in ocean's crust or on Mars
A chemical reaction between iron-containing minerals and water may produce enough hydrogen "food" to sustain microbial communities living in pores and cracks within the enormous volume of rock below the ocean floor and parts of the continents, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

David and Lucille Packard Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 30-May-2013
Sandia, SRI International sign pact to advance hydrogen and natural gas research for transportation
Sandia National Laboratories and SRI International, an independent research and innovation center, will join forces to explore, test and evaluate a broad range of hydrogen and natural gas fuel systems and components for transportation applications under a new agreement. The five-year memorandum of understanding is the first agreement in Sandia's new Center for Infrastructure Research and Innovation, an alternative fuel research and innovation facility.

Public Release: 30-May-2013

Science
Scientists capture first images of molecules before and after reaction
Using atomic force microscopy, chemists for the first time can capture images of molecules before and after they react, which will allow them to better tune reactions to get the products they want. UC Berkeley chemist Felix Fischer and physicist Michael Crommie joined forces to develop the technique, which could help scientists study and improve catalytic reactions like those used widely in industry to make chemicals or crack oil.

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

Public Release: 30-May-2013

Science
Atom by atom, bond by bond, a chemical reaction caught in the act
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have produced remarkable images of carbon atoms and the bonds among them. Resembling glowing textbook diagrams, hydrocarbon molecules are shown in high resolution for the first time before and after bond-breaking, rearrangement, and reforming of bonds during a complex chemical reaction.

Office of Naval Research, Department of Energy Office of Science, National Science Foundation, European Research Council

Public Release: 29-May-2013

Nano Letters
Organic polymers show sunny potential
A new version of solar cells created by laboratories at Rice and Pennsylvania State universities could open the door to research on a new class of solar energy devices.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, Welch Foundation, Shell Center for Sustainablility and Owen Family Foundation

Public Release: 28-May-2013
Key hydrogen report now available on OpenEnergyInfo wiki site
As part of the Open Government initiative launched by the Obama Administration, Sandia National Laboratories' Technical Reference on Hydrogen Compatibility of Materials has made its debut on the Energy Dataset of OpenEnergyInfo, or OpenEI. This will make the publication more widely available and easier to access.

DOE Fuel Cells Technologies Office

Public Release: 27-May-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The formula for turning cement into metal
In a move that would make the alchemists of King Arthur's time green with envy, scientists have unraveled the formula for turning liquid cement into liquid metal. This makes cement a semi-conductor and opens up its use in the profitable consumer electronics marketplace for thin films, protective coatings, and computer chips.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 26-May-2013

Nature Geoscience
Climate researchers discover new rhythm for El Niño
Why El Ni�o peaks around Christmas and ends quickly by February to April has been a long-standing mystery. The answer lies in an interaction between El Ni�o and the annual cycle that results in an unusual tropical Pacific wind pattern with a period of 15 months, according to a team of scientists at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Their study appears in the May 26, 2013, online issue of Nature Geoscience.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, NOAA, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 973 Program of China, China Meteorological Special Project

Contact: Gisela Speidel
gspeidel@hawaii.edu
808-956-9252
University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST

Public Release: 24-May-2013
Research effort deep underground could sort out cosmic-scale mysteries
The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has begun delivery of germanium-76 detectors to an underground laboratory in South Dakota in a team research effort that might explain the puzzling imbalance between matter and antimatter generated by the Big Bang.

Public Release: 23-May-2013
PNNL staff recognized for scientific accomplishments, moving technologies into the marketplace
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory honored more than 165 staff for their creation, development and commercialization of intellectual property at PNNL's annual Intellectual Property Commercialization Recognition & Rewards Program banquet.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 23-May-2013
Yuan Ping receives DOE Early Career Research Program Award
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Yuan Ping has been selected as a recipient of a Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research Program award. These awards provide $2.5 million over five years to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and stimulate research careers in disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Science.

Public Release: 22-May-2013
PNNL-developed injection molding process recognized with emerging technologies award
An injection-molding method that has potential to aid the aerospace, biomedical and auto industries by increasing the use of titanium and other durable, lightweight and corrosion-resistant metals has earned a national innovation award.

Department of Energy

Public Release: 21-May-2013

Nature Nanotechnology
Whirlpools on the nanoscale could multiply magnetic memory
Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source promises four-bit magnetic cells instead of the two-bit magnetic domains of standard magnetic memories. Magnetic vortices are whirlpools of magnetic field, in which electron spins point either clockwise or counterclockwise. In the crowded center of the whirlpool the spins point either down or up. These four orientations could represent separate bits of information in a new kind of memory, if controlled independently and simultaneously.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, European Regional Development Fund, Czech Republic Grant Agency

Public Release: 21-May-2013
Solar and lithium ion car race winners announced
Ninety-seven teams from 28 Colorado schools participated in today's car competitions hosted by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The student teams raced solar and lithium ion powered vehicles they designed and built themselves.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 21-May-2013

Environmental Science & Technology
Going green: Nation equipped to grow serious amounts of pond scum for fuel
A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country's yearly needs. For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard.

US Department of Energy