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

Is There an End to the Periodic Table? MSU Professor Explores its Limits

As the 150th anniversary of the formulation of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements looms, a Michigan State University professor probes the table’s limits in a recent Nature Physics Perspective.

Northwestern Researchers Predict Materials to Stabilize Record-high Capacity Lithium-ion Battery

A Northwestern University research team has found ways to stabilize a new battery with a record-high charge capacity. Based on a lithium-manganese-oxide cathode, the breakthrough could enable smart phones and battery-powered automobiles to last more than twice as long between charges.

USU Biochemist and Colleagues Imagine World Beyond Fossil Fuel

Utah State University biochemist Lance Seefeldt and other university and national laboratory scientists report on the field of nitrogen activation chemistry and future directions for understanding critical, nitrogen transformation reactions.

Researchers Mimic Comet Moth’s Silk Fibers to Make “Air-conditioned” Fabric

In exploring the optical properties of the Madagascar comet moth’s cocoon fibers, a Columbia Engineering team discovers the fibers’ exceptional capabilities to reflect sunlight and to transmit optical signals and images, and develops methods to spin artificial fibers mimicking the natural fibers’ nanostructures and optical properties.

PROSPECTing for Antineutrinos

The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT), located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has begun taking data to study electron antineutrinos that are emitted from nuclear decays in the reactor to search for so-called sterile neutrinos and to learn about the underlying nuclear reactions that power fission reactors.

A New DNA Editing Toolkit for the Alga Nannochloropsis

Eric Poliner and a team of MSU scientists in the Farre and Benning labs have released a new genetic engineering toolkit for the alga Nannochloropsis. The alga is of interest for the production of biofuels and other oil-based chemicals.

Princeton Senior’s Thesis Project Makes Material Difference in Quest for Fusion Energy

For her senior thesis, Princeton University undergraduate Meagan Yeh worked with researchers to test materials at the University of California-San Diego and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory for possible use in a fusion reactor.

Love of Plants and Problem-Solving Drives Bioenergy Researcher Rebecca Ong

GLBRC researcher Becky Ong describes what made her choose a career in lignocellulosic bioenergy and how her work in understanding plant/soil microbial communities could improve the process of making fuels and chemicals from plants.

Columbia Researchers Squeeze Light into Nanoscale Devices and Circuits

Team is first to directly image propagation and dynamics of graphene plasmons at very low temperatures; findings could impact optical communications and signal processing.

Mississippi State Physicists Net High Impact Experimental Result on the Weak Force

Two Mississippi State physicists are seeing more than a decade of research yield a new high-precision result that will expand scientists’ knowledge of the weak force in protons.

Microscopy Advance Reveals Unexpected Role for Water in Energy Storage Material

A new atomic force microscopy (AFM) method reveals that structural water in tungsten oxide results in smaller deformation rates from ion intercalation, an unexpected finding on the role of structural water that can enable materials with higher power and efficiency energy storage devices.

Better, Faster, Stronger: Building Batteries That Don’t Go Boom

Researchers at Michigan Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials focused on the remarkable behavior of lithium to explain how it mitigates the pressure that develops during charging/discharging and the mechanical explanation of its high strength.