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

Palladium-nickel nanoparticles (top structural model) are synthesized and then exposed to reactive gases (lower right) while being probed with high-energy x-rays.

Optimizing Atomic Neighborhoods for Speedier Chemical Reactions

Clusters with longer separations between atoms had enhanced catalytic activity.

Illustration of the catalytic oxygen reduction reaction on the surface of platinum-nickel nanoframes with multilayered platinum skin structure

Multimetal Nanoframes Improve Catalyst Performance

Concentrating noble-metal catalyst atoms on the surface of porous nano-frame alloys shows over thirty-fold increase in performance.

Changes in the crystal structure and electronic properties of vanadium dioxide (VO2) occur during its insulator-to-metal phase transition (V blue; O red)

Insulator-to-Metal Transition of Vanadium Dioxide

New studies explain the transition, providing a quantitative picture of a 50-year-old mystery.

The magnetic coercivity, the resistance to change in the orientation of the magnetic domain structure, for nickel (Ni) was shown to strongly depend on the crystal structure of the underlying oxide (vanadium oxide, V2O3).

Giant Magnetic Effects Induced in Hybrid Materials

Magnetic property changes by several hundred percent over a narrow temperature range.

Neutron diffraction data of barium iron arsenide with sodium ions substituted onto 24 percent of the barium sites (doping) showed evidence for a new magnetic phase in iron-based superconductors.

New Magnetic Phase Confirms Theoretical Predictions Related to Unconventional Superconductivity

Scientists uncover the microscopic origin of a magnetic phase in iron-based superconductors.

The schematic shows the molecular structure of a protein.

Deciphering Distinct Atomic Motions in Proteins with Dynamic Neutron Scattering

Combining computer simulations with laboratory measurements provides insights on molecular-level flexibility.

Crystal structure of the parent compound of a calcium-strontium-based cuprate superconductor [(Ca/Sr)2CuO3]

Predicting Magnetic Behavior in Copper Oxide Superconductors

New theoretical techniques predict experimental observations in superconducting materials.

Schematic image indicating the inferred intertwining of the superconducting wave function (green) with the envelope function (blue) for the atomic magnetism.

Intertwining of Superconductivity and Magnetism

Coexistence of two states of matter that normally avoid one another is revealed by inelastic neutron scattering experiments.

Electron density distribution (indicated by both the blue and red, as areas of deficiency and excess of electrons, respectively) in barium iron arsenide for undoped/nonsuperconducting and doped/superconducting alloys.

New Path to Loss-Free Electricity

Atomic-scale details of electron distribution reveal a novel mechanism for current to flow without energy loss.

Scanning tunneling microscopy image shows a variable width graphene nanoribbon. Atoms are visible as individual “bumps.”

For “Ribbons” of Graphene, Width Matters

Thin widths change a high-performance electrical conductor into a semiconductor.

Top view (left) and side view (right), illustrating the porous and layered structure of a highly conductive powder (Ni3(HITP)2), precursor to a new, tunable graphene analog.

Towards a Tunable Graphene-like Two-Dimensional Material

Researchers have created a porous, layered material that can serve as a graphene analog, and which may be a tool for storing energy and investigating the physics of unusual materials.

Optical microscope image of triangular-shaped metal-diselenide monolayer hetero-structures.

Connecting Three Atomic Layers Puts Semiconducting Science on Its Edge

New material with a layered, atomic sandwich structure has unique optoelectronic properties.