2017 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Researchers Resolve Key Question on Titanium Oxide, Water Interactions

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have determined that water is only slightly more likely to stay in one piece as it binds to the catalyst surface than it is to form the hydroxyl pairs.

Q&A with CFN Scientist Qin Wu

Applying his theoretical chemistry expertise and using advanced software and high-performance computing, Wu examines the structural and dynamic properties of molecules.

LArIAT Upgrade Will Test DUNE Design

In particle physics, the difference of a millimeter or two can make or break an experiment. In March, the LArIAT experiment began a proof-of-concept test to make sure the planned Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will work well with that 2-millimeter difference.

Self-Assembling Polymers Provide Thin Nanowire Template

A team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (DOE), the University of Chicago, and MIT has developed a new way to create some of the world’s thinnest wires, using a process that could enable mass manufacturing with standard types of equipment.

New SLAC Theory Institute Aims to Speed Research on Exotic Materials at Light Sources

A new institute at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is using the power of theory to search for new types of materials that could revolutionize society – by making it possible, for instance, to transmit electricity over power lines with no loss.

How Berkelium Stands Out in a Heavy Metal Crowd

Using several spectroscopic techniques, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that the element berkelium breaks form with its heavy element peers by taking on an extra positive charge when bound to a synthetic organic molecule.

Brookhaven Lab-Led Research Aims to Develop Protections Against Chemical Warfare Agents

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are participating in a collaborative effort to study how the use of zirconium (Zr)-based metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and niobium (Nb)-based polyoxometalates (POMs) may be effectively used in gas masks to capture and decompose dangerous chemical agents like Sarin, notably used in a subway terrorist attack in Japan in 1995.

From Moo to Goo: Cooperating Microbes Convert Methane to Alternative Fuel Source

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a new system to convert methane into a deep green, energy-rich, gelatin-like substance that can be used as the basis for biofuels and other bioproducts, specialty chemicals — and even feed for cows that create the gas in the first place.

Coming to a Lab Bench Near You: Femtosecond X-Ray Spectroscopy

The ephemeral electron movements in a transient state of a reaction important in biochemical and optoelectronic processes have been captured and, for the first time, directly characterized using ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

Scientists Watch a Molecule Protect Itself from Radiation Damage

To increase their understanding of excited state proton transfers in DNA and other molecules, scientists at the LCLS at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory looked at the bonds between atoms neighboring nitrogen and confirmed that optical light breaks the nitrogen-hydrogen bonds.

Scientists at PPPL Further Understanding of a Process that Causes Heat Loss in Fusion Devices

Secondary electron emission - or SEE - cools the edge of plasma in tokamaks and dampens its overall performance; physicists working with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory recently advanced their understanding on how SEE is affected by different wall materials and structures.

Skyrmions Created with a Special Spiral

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have found a way to control the creation of special textured surfaces in magnetically ordered materials.