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

Self-Healing Tech Charges Up Performance for Silicon-Containing Battery Anodes

Illinois professors Nancy Sottos and Scott White led a team that developed a silicon nanoparticle composite material for battery anodes that could lead to more reliable and longer-lasting batteries.

Hafnia Dons a New Face

A collaborative University of Kentucky-Texas A&M University team has observed in real-time the transformation of a hafnia nanorod from its room temperature to tetragonal phase at 1000 degrees less than its bulk temperature.

Liquid-Crystal and Bacterial Living Materials Organize and Move in their Own Way

Smart glass, transitional lenses and mood rings are not the only things made of liquid crystals; mucus, slug slime and cell membranes also contain them. Now, a team of researchers is trying to better understand how liquid crystals, combined with bacteria, form living materials and how the two interact to organize and move.

New Understanding of Superconductor's 'Normal' State May Open the Way to Solving Longstanding Puzzle

Experiments done at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Madhavan and Abbamonte laboratories, in collaboration with researchers at six institutions in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan, have shed new light on the electronic properties of this material at temperatures 4°K above Tc.

Scientists Discover New Method to Harness Energy

A Washington State University professor is part of a team that has unraveled the mechanism of a process that couples chemical reactions in a unique way that conserves energy and prevents loss.

High-Temperature Devices Made from Films that Bend as they “Breathe”

Carrying out maintenance tasks inside a nuclear plant puts severe strains on equipment, due to extreme temperatures that are hard for components to endure without degrading. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have come up with a radically new way to make actuators that could be used in such extremely hot environments.

Modified Soybeans Yield More in Future Climate Conditions

A three-year field study by University of Illinois researchers found modified soybeans yielded more when subjected to both increased temperature and carbon dioxide levels; however, they found little to no difference between the modified and unmodified soybeans grown in either increased temperature, increased carbon dioxide, or today’s climate conditions.

Caltech Chemical Engineer Explains Oxygen Mystery on Comets

A Caltech chemical engineer who normally develops new ways to fabricate microprocessors in computers has figured out how to explain a nagging mystery in space—why comets expel oxygen gas, the same gas we humans breathe.

Sandwiched Between Superconductors, Graphene Adopts Exotic Electronic States

MIT physicists have found that a flake of graphene, when brought in close proximity with two superconducting materials, can inherit some of those materials’ superconducting qualities.

Discovery of Thin Transparent Film Could Improve Electronics and Solar Cells

A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, have discovered a new nano-scale thin film material with the highest-ever conductivity in its class. The new material could lead to smaller, faster, and more powerful electronics, as well as more efficient solar cells.

New Plutonium Discovery Lights Way for FSU Chemistry Professor’s Work to Clean Up Nuclear Waste

Florida State University Professor Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt and a team of researchers have been studying plutonium — Pu on the Periodic Table of Elements — for almost two decades to understand how it behaves chemically, and how it differs from lighter elements like iron or nickel.

Molecular Scale Science May Inform Water Purification Methods and Battery Improvements

A new technique developed by a team including University of Delaware Prof. Neil Sturchio and colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Chicago has produced real-time observations documenting the chemical reactions that happen between liquids and solids.