University Research | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Bacterial Mechanism Converts Nitrogen to Greenhouse Gas

Cornell researchers have discovered a biological mechanism that helps convert nitrogen-based fertilizer into nitrous oxide, an ozone-depleting greenhouse gas.

A Watershed Moment in Understanding How H2O Conducts Electricity

A team of researchers, led by Yale chemistry professor Mark Johnson, show for the first time how water molecules pass along excess charges and in the process, conduct electricity.

Raju Venugopalan Awarded Prestigious Humboldt Research Award

Raju Venugopalan, an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University and a senior physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been awarded a Humboldt Research Award for his remarkable achievements in theoretical nuclear physics.

Novel Silicon Etching Technique Crafts 3D Gradient Refractive Index Micro-Optics

Working with colleagues at Stanford and The Dow Chemical Company, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created a novel approach for fabricating three-dimensional micro-optics through the shape-defined formation of porous silicon (PSi), with broad impacts in integrated optoelectronics, imaging, and photovoltaics.

Physics, Photosynthesis and Solar Cells

A University of California, Riverside assistant professor has combined photosynthesis and physics to make a key discovery that could lead to highly efficient, green solar cells.

For Platinum Catalysts, a Tiny Squeeze Gives a Big Boost in Performance, Stanford Study Finds

A nanosize squeeze can significantly boost the performance of platinum catalysts that help generate energy in fuel cells, according to a new study by Stanford scientists.

New Method for Analyzing Crystal Structure

A new technique developed by MIT researchers reveals the inner details of photonic crystals, synthetic materials whose exotic optical properties are the subject of widespread research.

Better Water Splitting Advances Renewable Energy Conversion

Washington State University researchers have found a way to more efficiently create hydrogen from water – an important key in making renewable energy production and storage viable.

Researchers Develop Completely New Kind of Polymer

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new hybrid polymer with removable supramolecular compartments that might one day be used in artificial muscles or other life-like materials; for delivery of drugs, biomolecules or other chemicals; in materials with self-repair capability; and for replaceable energy sources.

Molecular-Like Photochemistry From Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated the transfer of triplet exciton energy from semiconductor nanocrystals to surface-bound molecular acceptors, extending the lifetime of the originally prepared excited state by six orders of magnitude.

For This Nanocatalyst, One Atom Makes a Big Difference

Combining experimental investigations and theoretical simulations, researchers at Georgia Tech have explained why platinum nanoclusters of a specific size range facilitate the hydrogenation reaction used to produce ethane from ethylene.

New Finding May Explain Heat Loss in Fusion Reactors

Researchers at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, working with the University of California - San Diego, General Atomics, and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, say that they have found the key to the mismatch between theory and experimental results – the interactions between turbulence at the tiniest scale, that of electrons, and turbulence at a scale 60 times larger, that of ions.