http://science.energy.gov/laboratories/highlights/The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, providing more than 40 percent of total funding for this vital area of national importance. It oversees - and is the principal federal funding agency of - the Nation's research programs in high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and fusion energy sciences.en{C0AB145B-3B67-4B29-987A-C745A176A198}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2013/bes-2013-02-b/<img src='/~/media/DCE164BCA2684EA89EDA0C6A53141472.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Nano-porous metal oxide coatings on carbon fiber dramatically enhance the electrical storage capacity for supercapacitors.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:13:35 -0400<p>Pseudocapacitors are supercapacitors that store electrical charge both like a capacitor (with the normal electrostatic double layer of charges at the electrode-electrolyte interface) and like a battery (with multiple chemical reaction mechanisms involving charge transport across the electrode-electrolyte interface).&nbsp; Metal oxides such as cobalt or manganese oxide (C_o3O4 or MnO₂) store pseudocapacitive charge via metal ions which change oxidation state (e.g., Mn⁺³ <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: symbol; color: #363636; font-size: 10pt;">&Ucirc;</span> Mn⁺⁴) as a result of the charge transfer.&nbsp;Researchers at the Energy Frontier Research Center on Heterogeneous Functional Materials, the &ldquo;HeteroFoaM Center,&rdquo; have discovered how the relative sizes, shapes, atomic arrangements and interfaces of the materials in psuedocapacitors control the amount of charge that can be stored and even the mechanisms of charge storage.&nbsp;In fact, the electrochemical storage properties are not limited by the properties of the materials and can be radically different if the &ldquo;heterogeneity&rdquo; of the composite material is understood and optimized. For example, as-deposited MnO₂ on conductive carbon fiber showed high specific capacitance (333 F/g) due to psuedocapacitance of the manganese ions, but conversion of the material through heat treatment to a different heterogeneous arrangement &ndash; a mixed-valence, nano-porous MnOx coating &ndash; dramatically enhanced storage capacity, achieving very high specific capacitance (~2,500 F/g) while maintaining excellent power density (~98 kW/kg at ~122.7 A/g).</p>{A1F1F429-A46A-4970-9BC3-853158E1144B}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2013/bes-2013-02-c/<img src='/~/media/214E9D85FBC64973AC4D23F2E487EF31.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Charge-discharge chemistry for lithium ion batteries elucidated by theoretical calculations.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:13:35 -0400<p>Ethylene carbonate (EC) electrolytes and manganese spinel (Li_xMn₂O₄) positive electrodes are commonly used in lithium ion batteries.&nbsp;A comparison of the electrochemical potentials of EC and bulk Li_xMn₂O₄ suggests that decomposition of the electrolyte would not occur directly by electrons being transferred from EC to the electrode material, but the surface of a solid can have very different properties than its interior bulk.&nbsp;Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, as part of the Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES) EFRC, have completed detailed coupled simulations of the molecules of the electrolyte and the surface of the positive electrode showing that the oxygen atoms on a Li_0.6Mn₂O₄ surface can deform and weakly bind the EC molecule when it is near the electrode surface. This initial interaction does not involve the transfer of electrons (i.e., oxidation) but does enable breaking of the carbon-oxygen bond and subsequent molecular rearrangements that result in two electrons and a proton being transferred to the electrode surface.&nbsp; Therefore, a predicted series of five steps breaks down the electrolyte molecule, leaving the oxidized EC fragment still bound to the now acidified electrode surface.&nbsp; Acidification of positive electrodes is widely believed to initiate corrosion of the electrode surface and possible dissolution of manganese atoms.&nbsp;The proposed acidification mechanism&nbsp;illustrates the importance of modeling the electrolyte and the electrode surface together.</p>{5E80BB5B-2DB7-4A8E-9045-1B714FBEBD64}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-11-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/11/nano-35c-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Unusual reaction eschews high temperatures and water to lock away climate-changing carbon dioxide.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:53 -0400 <p>Keeping power plants' emissions of carbon dioxide sequestered underground, even in the event of an earthquake or other geological upset, will be facilitated by transforming the carbon dioxide into a mineral, such as anhydrous magnesite. This reaction occurs more readily at high temperatures and requires additional water – conditions that may not be viable in an underground reservoir. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered a reaction that forms the desired mineral at the relatively low temperature of 95&deg;F and while recycling the water it needs. The team began with highly reactive nanometer-sized particles of an abundant mineral called forsterite, MgSiO₄. They introduced water-saturated supercritical carbon dioxide to the particles. They examined the forsterite surface using scanning electron microscopy and characterized the molecules formed using four specialized spectrometers. The results show that within 3 to 4 days, the forsterite, water, and carbon dioxide form a mixture of two magnesium-based minerals: nesquehonite, which contains water, and the desired anhydrous magnesite, which does not. Water is continually used and released in the process, with the water driving the reaction. Over 14 days of reacting, the carbon dioxide was transformed into magnesite and a highly porous silica phase.</p> {093F52C4-AC9E-4AA7-9E08-68A03F1080C1}http://science.energy.gov/np/highlights/2012/np-2012-10-a/<img src='/~/media/np/images/highlights/2012/10/hall-b-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Discovery could provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the three quarks enslaved inside the nucleon.Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:45:58 -0500 <p>Modern experiments using electron beams at TJNAF and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) detector address a precise question: how do the fundamental constituent particles of the Standard Model (quarks, antiquarks and gluons) assemble to form the composite “strongly interacting” particles observed in nature? Experimenters at TJNAF recently discovered five strongly-interacting unstable particles of a type known as “N* baryon resonances.” These composite particles, which are dominantly composed of three quarks, were predicted to exist in supercomputer studies of the theory of quarks and gluons, “Quantum Chromodynamics,” as well as by the original quark model of baryons. Since these predicted “missing resonances” had long eluded discovery, a conjecture arose that the presence of diquarks - a hypothetical strong pairing of two of the three quarks inside a baryon - might actually preclude their existence. The advanced experimental capability provided by the CLAS detector resolved the issue by finding some of these previously missing N* resonances; the crucial breakthrough was to search for the missing N*s in unusual decays that produced strange quarks. Since the previously “missing” N*s evidently do exist, this discovery eliminated the diquark conjecture regarding why these particular strongly-interacting composite particles were absent. The new particles discovered by CLAS have now been included in the Particle Data Group’s definitive 2012 Review of Particle Properties.</p> {D995B4A4-86BD-41FD-A5FE-1ED7261B7B33}http://science.energy.gov/np/highlights/2012/np-2012-10-b/<img src='/~/media/np/images/highlights/2012/10/lu-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Precision analytical techniques developed for fundamental experiments in nuclear physics now enable routine measurements of ultra-low concentrations of Krypton radioisotopes in samples of water, ice, and gas.Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:45:59 -0500 <p>A state-of-the-art Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA) instrument has been developed by a team of physicists working at Argonne National Laboratory working in collaboration with Earth scientists and other supporting agencies in the U.S. and worldwide. The ages of groundwater, ranging from 200,000 to 1,000,000 years old, in the Nubian Aquifer underneath the Eastern Sahara Desert, the Great Artesian Basin of Australia, and the Guarani Aquifer of South America have been measured. These results reveal hydrologic behavior of huge aquifers, with important implications for climate history and water resource management. Application of rare isotope ^81,85Kr-, ³⁹Ar-dating using ATTA in other areas of Earth sciences now appears feasible.  The radioisotope 85Kr is routinely measured as a residence-time tracer for young (&lt;60 years) shallow groundwaters that are most susceptible to contamination. When combined with other tracers, ⁸⁵Kr measurements will improve the quality and reliability of groundwater flow and vulnerability assessments. A systematic survey of ³⁹Ar throughout the oceans could fill major gaps in our knowledge of deep ocean circulation and mixing, and allow better predictions of oceanic sequestration of atmospheric CO2.  Polar ice cores have been used to reconstruct Earth’s past climate and atmospheric composition as far back as 800,000 years in time. ⁸¹Kr could potentially be used for dating of old ice with ages ranging from 100,000 – 1,500,000 years.  In volcanic and geothermal systems, the analysis of crustal fluid samples for noble radionuclides ³⁹Ar, ⁸¹Kr, and ⁸⁵Kr could provide information on the origin, evolution, and migration of crustal fluids.</p> {5DB681AE-F466-4520-909F-89DB8ADBA6D3}http://science.energy.gov/np/highlights/2012/np-2012-10-c/<img src='/~/media/np/images/highlights/2012/10/nasa-chamber-a-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Thomas Jefferson Laboratory lends expertise in cryogenics developments.Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:26:48 -0400 <p>As the U.S. sweated through its warmest summer on record outside, an enormous testing chamber at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston reached its coldest temperatures yet on the inside, cooled by one of the world's most efficient cryogenic refrigeration systems. “Chamber A” is mammoth, having a hinged door over 12 meters in diameter, a height of over 36 meters, and a diameter of almost 20 meters. Designed by members of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Jefferson Lab's Cryogenics group in Newport News, VA, the system reached its target temperature of 20 Kelvin, about -424 degrees F, for the first time in May and again during commissioning tests in late August. It reached its target temperature in just over a day and maintains a steady temperature with less than a tenth of a degree in variation over a load temperature range of 16 to 330 Kelvin, all with no loss of helium and using half the liquid nitrogen than comparable systems. But what is even more remarkable is its ability to maintain design efficiency down to a third of its maximum load. &quot;The range of load temperature and capacity while maintaining peak efficiency and temperature stability is unprecedented,&quot; said Venkatarao (Rao) Ganni, deputy Cryogenics Department head at Jefferson Lab, and a key member of the system design team. The successful cool down is great news for NASA, which will use the Space Environment Simulation Lab Chamber A to subject components of the James Webb Space Telescope to the rugged conditions it will encounter in space when it is launched in 2018. The Jefferson Lab cryogenics group has pioneered new technologies that led to improvements in the efficiencies of the laboratories' cryogenics systems, applying the concepts of its patented Floating Pressure (known as the Ganni Cycle) and other improvements to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency and stability of cryogenics operations.</p> {CC0FE014-A577-4967-B6A4-74FFF60B273A}http://science.energy.gov/hep/highlights/2012/hep-2012-10-a/<img src='/~/media/hep/images/highlights/2012/10/bella-laser-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Laser Delivers One Petawatt of Power in a Pulse only 40 Femtoseconds Long Every SecondMon, 18 Mar 2013 10:33:11 -0400 <p>Because BELLA’s laser has such high power and a high repetition rate, it will allow users to optimize the system in ways that can’t be done with lasers that fire a single shot a few times a day, which means that producing 10 GeV electrons is well within BELLA’s grasp. And because BELLA’s power and repetition rate are so high, a new door will open that will allow experiments with laser plasma wakefield acceleration to proceed with better controls and at a faster rate. The stage is set for the future development of compact particle accelerators for high energy physics and table-top free electron lasers to investigate materials and biological systems.</p> {4AFCFAE0-6729-491C-ACAA-C36D4D7C5E75}http://science.energy.gov/hep/highlights/2012/hep-2012-10-b/<img src='/~/media/hep/images/highlights/2012/10/higgs-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Particle may help explain the origins of mass.Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:45:03 -0400<p>The Standard Model of Particle Physics predicts that the Higgs boson, once made, will decay in a number of ways. Some of these decay modes are easier to observe at the LHC than others, in particular the mode in which the Higgs decays to two photons and the mode in which it decays two pairs of electrons or muons or one pair of each. These decay modes are most easily observed because their backgrounds&mdash;events that may look like they came from the decay of a Higgs but don&rsquo;t&mdash;are very well understood. (Other modes were investigated as well.) Any events above the number of background events then may be statistically significant and a signature for a new particle. The accompanying figure shows CMS data for the di-photon decay mode. One can easily observe the excess of events around 125-126 GeV. Both ATLAS and CMS have similar plots for other decay modes as well.&nbsp;If the new particle proves to be the Higgs boson then this implies the existence of the Higgs field as the mechanism by which gauge bosons, such as the W and Z bosons, and quarks and charged leptons gain rest mass.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Higgs field has been likened to a giant vat of molasses spread throughout the universe through which particles wade. If a specific elementary particle is heavier than another, then it is more strongly coupled to the Higgs field. The strength of this interaction decides the particles mass. If the new particle is not the Higgs, then some other explanation for electroweak symmetry breaking must be found. </p>{1DEB4A1B-A989-4458-A291-F76301B4A096}http://science.energy.gov/hep/highlights/2012/hep-2012-10-c/<img src='/~/media/hep/images/highlights/2012/10/nobel_saul_perlmutter-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Astrophysicist Saul Perlmutter wins Nobel “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.”Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:33:09 -0400 <p>Because Type 1a supernovae form in the same way and explode with the same mass, their absolute light output is the same regardless of where and when they explode. That makes them “standard candles” – useful reference points in the night sky.  By measuring their apparent luminosity here on Earth, and comparing that with what we know to be their absolute luminosity, scientists can calculate how far away these supernovae are. And the farther away they are, the older they are because it takes light a longer time to arrive here if emitted from an object farther away than another. By comparing the redshifts of older supernovae with younger ones, scientists were able to determine conclusively that the rate of expansion of the universe is speeding up. This finding was contrary to the conventional wisdom, which held that the rate of expansion of the universe would slow down due to universal gravitational attraction.  Instead, physicists were forced to contemplate a radically different view of the universe. Physicists speak of the total matter-energy of the universe. The world that we see and touch, the world that we are made of, physicists now believe is only about 5% of the total matter-energy of the universe. Twenty percent is thought to be dark matter, which leaves approximately 75% of the universe’s matter-energy to be dark energy.</p> {7470F555-55F6-45D3-817C-95F69468597C}http://science.energy.gov/hep/highlights/2012/hep-2012-10-d/<img src='/~/media/hep/images/highlights/2012/10/rd100-lapd-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Argonne National Lab wins prestigious 2012 R&D 100 award for development of Large Area Microchannel Plate DetectorsMon, 18 Mar 2013 10:33:09 -0400 <p>Many modern physics experiments require very large detectors to “see” either very rare processes or particles that, although abundant, are difficult to detect. Large detectors increase the probability of catching these particles and improving experimental results. But with size comes cost. A large detector often means a large volume filled with, for example, tons of water or liquid argon. Around this must be an array of hundreds and often thousands of individual photomultiplier tubes (PMT) pointed inward, each hoping to detect a glimmer of light. These PMTs are costly, bulky, and require lots of cabling to operate.  Argonne National Lab, however, has developed coatings for a new MCP substrate made of cheaper borosilicate glass with the appropriate capillary structure for secondary electron emission. These are supplied by InCom. These substrates are then coated via atomic layer deposition (ALD) with two thin coats, a resistive coating and an emissive coating, in order to optimize secondary electron emission. This is done at Berkeley Space Science Laboratory. The composition of these coatings can vary depending on the application.  This new technology provides an opportunity to significantly reduce the cost of large-scale experiments. But because large-area detectors are needed in other areas as well, they should find homes in national security and medical imaging as well.</p> {57A98699-A355-4857-BEC7-E276DE4DEFF7}http://science.energy.gov/fes/highlights/2012/fes-2012-10-a/<img src='/~/media/fes/images/highlights/2012/10/snowflake-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Recent experiments have confirmed the great potential of a novel plasma-material interface concept.Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:45:47 -0500 <p>Strong magnetic fields shape the hot plasma in the form of a donut in a magnetic fusion plasma reactor called a tokamak. Confined plasma particles move along infinite magnetic field lines inside the tokamak. Some particles and heat, however, tend to escape because of transport and magnetohydrodynamic plasma instabilities. A separate part of the vacuum vessel called a “divertor chamber” is used to divert away and collect lost heat and particles. If the plasma incident on the divertor surface is too hot, melting of the plasma-facing components and loss of coolant can occur. Under such undesirable conditions, the plasma-facing component lifetime would also be an issue, as they would tend to erode too quickly. The snowflake divertor concept was developed theoretically by Dmitri Ryutov and colleagues within the Fusion Energy Sciences Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The experiments led by LLNL scientists on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) and DIII-D tokamak user facilities at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and General Atomics, respectively, confirmed that all predicted magnetic properties could be realized without any additional hardware. The experiments at NSTX and DIII-D demonstrated a drastic reduction of heat load on divertor plasma-facing components and compatibility with high performance high confinement core plasma regimes. These, as well as other on-going experimental and numerical modeling efforts in USA, Switzerland, Italy and China, provide support to the snowflake divertor configuration as a viable plasma-material interface for future tokamak devices and for fusion development applications.</p> {CB72E74E-BDD2-4760-A131-59B125B51199}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-10-g/<img src='/~/media/6B32687020B641409FBF1A56CEF64097.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Adding an oxide sieve, a layer containing nanocavities, to a catalyst surface makes the catalyst selective for specific reactions and increases efficiencies for chemical processes.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:21:35 -0400<p>Catalysts are compounds that enhance the speed of chemical reactions in a wide range of industrial chemistry applications. The Institute for Atom-Efficient Chemical Transformation (IACT), a DOE-supported Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), is developing new reactions and new catalytic materials for bioenergy production by combining advanced characterization, computer simulations, and materials synthesis.&nbsp;IACT researchers at Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory developed a new technique to modify existing oxide catalysts with a surface film that enhances the selectivity of the catalyst. These films contain &lt;2 nm diameter &ldquo;nanocavities&rdquo; made by adding a template during the atomic layer deposition process that is used to synthesize atom-precise films of oxides, metals, and other materials. Removal of the template after synthesis results in the nanocavities in the surface that provides a sieving effect, allowing separation of the reactant molecules and limiting reactions to a single particle. Because the thickness of the sieving layer is comparable in size to the reactant molecules, diffusional limitations that plague other materials are not present here. Ultimately, adding selectivity to intrinsically non-selective oxide catalysts is expected to decrease the cost for biofuels and bio-derived chemicals by decreasing the need for challenging and costly separations and increasing the product yields.</p> <p>The research utilized the Advanced Photon Source for characterization of the structures.</p>{E9165276-CDE5-4BEE-8A57-97114FA4DC5B}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-10-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/10/balke-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>New microscopy with nanometer-sized resolution may bring revolutionary new understanding to energy storage technologies.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:56 -0400 <p>A new scanning probe technique has led to the first measurements of the activation energy for Li-ion transport with nanometer resolution in the battery electrode material LiCoO₂. Understanding ionic transport at the level of individual grains and grain facets is of great importance in improving future energy storage (battery) energy and conversion (fuel cell) devices. Until now, activation energies for ionic transport have been actively explored by electrochemical techniques on the macroscopic and device level, allowing only average values for the activation energy to be determined. In this work, temperature-dependent electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) is used to measure the activation energy of Li-ion transport in LiCoO₂ thin films on the nanometer scale, bridging the lengths scales of atomistic calculations and traditional macroscopic experiments. By understanding the local picture of Li-ion transport in electrode materials and its correlation with the microstructure, a better understanding of ionic flow through a battery can be developed, as is required for future improvements in battery technologies.</p> {CA0FB59C-36B2-4103-B265-64BD61B29DB7}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-10-b/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/10/mpims-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Unique analysis of the reaction of propene with oxygen atom reveals the influence of electron spin on combustion chemistry.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:55 -0400 <p>Researchers at the Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, have obtained detailed insights into the oxidation of hydrocarbons, the first step in combustion, by use of a new gas-phase chemistry probe that combines synchrotron-based photoionization with mass spectrometry. The simple oxygen atom is an important combustion reactant as an oxidizer of hydrocarbon fuels. But reactions of individual oxygen atoms with other molecules are challenging to understand because of the unpaired electron of oxygen. Conventional understanding says that flipping the oxygen electron’s spin in the course of a reaction is “forbidden.” Synchrotron studies of the reaction of oxygen atoms with propene, a representative unsaturated hydrocarbon, differentiated between spin-allowed versus forbidden pathways and revealed unexpectedly large amounts of spin-forbidden products. This work is providing remarkable new insights that will profoundly affect our ability to accurately simulate the complex chemistry of combustion processes.</p> {9B831F68-2126-44A7-8A2E-4974C9F56F0B}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-10-d/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/10/graphic-levin-atom-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Small addition of rare earth element makes a big difference in converting heat to electricity.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:54 -0400 <p>One of the best thermoelectric materials for converting heat to electricity was made 15% better based on discoveries in BES-supported research conducted at Ames Laboratory.  Adding a small amount of dysprosium to the thermoelectric material known as TAGS-85 (Ag_6.52Sb_6.52Ge_36.96Te₅₀) distorts the local crystalline structure and enables higher energy carriers to move preferentially through the material while presenting barriers to the transport of lower energy carriers.  Researchers found that the larger size of dysprosium atoms along with its local magnetic characteristics modifies the complex interplay between electronic and thermal transport in the material that is responsible for the electrical current that is generated in the material when one end of a thermoelectric device is heated to a higher temperature.  Adding dysprosium to TAGS-85 raises the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) for the material from 1.3 to 1.5, an improvement of 0.2 towards the goal of ZT = 2.0 needed for the commercialization of thermoelectric power generation.  Understanding how small levels of added atoms impacts thermoelectric properties helps researchers design even better thermoelectric materials.</p> {1B8A43C0-6464-4F1B-9DFE-A45240D61436}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-10-e/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/10/kp-fossil-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Supercomputers + Software + electromagnetic images yield new way to discriminate underground deposits from surrounding geology.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:54 -0400 <p>Seismic imaging methods have a long and established history in identifying the geological structures that indicate hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs.  However, these methodologies cannot discriminate between different types of reservoir fluids, such as brines, oils and gas, with the end result that significant time and money can go for offshore drilling without finding gas or oil.  New geophysical technologies using electromagnetic signals are sensitive to these differences if electrically resistive hydrocarbons are present. However, extracting the needed information is difficult, involving a mathematically elaborate process called inverse modeling. To make the analysis easier, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have combined advanced geophysical imaging technologies with high-performance computing algorithms to make a powerful tool for subsurface electrical resistivity mapping, EMGeo - ElectroMagnetic Geological Mapper. It exploits parallel computing power, including LBNL’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, to maximize the information that can be extracted from industrial electromagnetic surveys. The software has been licensed to several major oil and gas companies active in deep-water exploration, potentially saving billions of dollars in the detection of energy deposits. Additional research is focused on directly combining microseismic and electrical survey data for deepening the resolution of subsurface fluid maps within enhanced geothermal systems.</p> {32B9830F-0622-4D56-888B-B4473DC6045C}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-10-f/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/10/puO2-molecule-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Observation of a plutonium nuclear magnetic resonance ends 50-year search and provides a key to deciphering its complex properties.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:53 -0400 <p>BES-supported research at Los Alamos National Laboratory, with collaborating scientists from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, has led to the discovery of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signature for plutonium, the only spin-1/2 nucleus whose NMR signal had eluded detection despite 50 years of searching.  To find plutonium’s elusive NMR signature, the researchers used a highly chemically and isotopically purified sample of solid plutonium dioxide, cooled it to 3.95 Kelvin to slow the nuclear spin relaxation time, and scanned over a range of energies thousands of times larger than typically found for lighter elements.  The physical constant that is a signature of plutonium’s nucleus, the gyromagnetic ratio, determined through this discovery, also provides an all-important window into the local electronic environment of the plutonium nucleus, which determines the complex physical and chemical behaviors exhibited by plutonium in its metallurgy and chemical reactivity.  The long-awaited discovery of this NMR signature provides an important, non-invasive tool to improve our understanding of plutonium, its stability, reactivity, and properties, in solid state physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science.</p> {55CEF659-B461-4369-AA05-8AB2E8BFEF23}http://science.energy.gov/ascr/highlights/2012/ascr-2012-10-a/<img src='/~/media/ascr/images/highlights/2012/10/100g-sim-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>The Advanced Networking Initiative testbed is allowing researchers to develop radical new technologies for the next generation Internet.Fri, 10 May 2013 16:35:48 -0400 <p>The 100 Gbps dark fiber testbed provides a facility for researchers to address the challenges of deploying and operating high speed optical networks. This includes research into disruptive technologies and approaches that are not ready to mingle with production traffic. “Just because the network is 10 times faster does not mean the protocols and middleware will be 10 times faster,” said Brian Tierney of the Energy Science network (ESnet). Such discrepancies could create bottlenecks that slow down the network, frustrating fulfillment of its potential.  The testbed, which is open to industry, government labs and academia, allows a user project to be the only traffic on the testbed, enabling experiments in a truly controlled environment. One of the challenges in network research is repeatability, so giving a researcher complete control of a 100 Gbps testbed allows the experiment to be re-run multiple times, enabling them to adjust the experiment if needed, leading to more exact results. For the networking research community, there is no other test environment like this that provides researchers the ability to experiment with their ideas “at scale” on a national backbone. And none of the U.S. research groups in industry or academia could afford to build an environment like this on their own. Eric Dube, Senior Product Manager of Systems at Bay Microsystems, Inc., stated  “This is the first time Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) over distance has been proven to work at full bandwidth for 40 Gbps data rates. Gaining access to a 40 Gbps wide area optical circuit is very costly and had prohibited this kind of research in the past. Using the ANI testbed, we are now able to prove these concepts in a live network environment setting the stage for deploying scalable RDMA-enabled applications over 100G networks. This is especially important as more geographically dispersed data centers and science sites will require this type of bandwidth and capability.” </p> {4C9F237A-9310-40D9-BC5F-BB7C8AAA8212}http://science.energy.gov/ascr/highlights/2012/ascr-2012-10-b/<img src='/~/media/ascr/images/highlights/2012/10/91212-supercomputer-universe-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Simulating the evolution of the universe on the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility’s IBM Blue Gene/Q.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:33:10 -0400 <p>Cosmology—the science of the origin and development of the universe—is entering one of its most scientifically exciting phases. Two decades of surveying the sky have culminated in the celebrated Cosmological Standard Model. While the model describes current observations to accuracies of several percent, two of its key pillars, dark matter and dark energy—together accounting for 95% of the mass energy of the universe—remain mysterious. Scientists would love to be able to rewind the universe and watch what happened from the start. Since that's not possible, researchers must create their own mini-universes inside computers and unleash the laws of physics on them, to study their evolution. Using the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility’s IBM Blue Gene/Q, researchers have simulated the evolution of the universe through the first 13 billion years after the big bang. The simulation tracks the movement of trillions of particles as they collide and interact with each other, forming structures that transform into galaxies. This simulation is part of a project led by physicists Salman Habib and Katrin Heitmann of Illinois' Argonne National Laboratory resolving galaxy-scale mass concentrations over observational volumes representative of state-of-the-art sky surveys. This initiative targets an approximately two- to three-orders-of-magnitude improvement over currently available resources. The simulation is based on the new HACC (Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code) framework aimed at exploiting emerging supercomputer architectures such as the IBM Blue Gene/Q at the ALCF. HACC is the first (and currently the only) large-scale cosmology code suite worldwide that can run at this scale and beyond on all available supercomputer architectures. To achieve this versatility, the researchers had to build the code from scratch working closely with advanced computing researchers. One of the main mysteries they hope to solve with the simulations is the origin of the dark energy that's causing the universe to accelerate in its expansion.</p> {58B28D5A-2CEB-42AC-ACEB-21738879AB51}http://science.energy.gov/ascr/highlights/2012/ascr-2012-10-c/<img src='/~/media/ascr/images/highlights/2012/10/baudry-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Researchers use Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility to accelerate drug discovery.Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:37:58 -0400 <p>Jerome Baudry, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee (UT) and member of the Center for Molecular Biophysics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and his team of computational biophysicists use supercomputers much like other scientists use microscopes. After making alterations to publicly licensed software from the Scripps Research Institute, they were able to create 3D biological simulations of compounds docking with receptors in the body and run it on one of the world’s fastest computers to screen millions of candidates in a few days. The simulations the team created are based upon the process by which molecular compounds function within the body. Pharmaceuticals work because they bind specifically to certain cellular receptors that play roles in health and disease; similar to the way a key fits a lock. When that key opens too many locks, however, side effects occur. Baudry and his collaborators want to be able to predict the specific binding of a drug to a receptor to avoid cross-reactivity. Knowing this behavior will help researchers generate drug candidates likely to survive clinical trials. Thanks to the efficient and massive computations possible using the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, Baudry and his collaborators can screen drug candidates against multiple receptors and the dynamic structural variations of those receptors. The ability to run simulations greatly reduces the sample size as poor drug candidates get eliminated and ultimately produces a more specifically binding, and therefore more efficient, drug.</p> {E48A0243-AEC7-4CD4-9759-C171D5B7FF9A}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-09-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/09/chang-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Understanding factors influencing a cyclone’s path and intensity improves our ability to forecast and mitigate impacts.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:17 -0400 <p>A barrier layer in ocean environments, or Mixed Layer Depth, is defined as the depth where the density increases from the surface value due to a prescribed temperature decrease of some value (e.g., 0.2&deg;C) from the surface value while maintaining constant surface salinity value. Using a combination of observations and model simulations, the team demonstrated that barrier layers, formed through high fresh water input reducing the salinity in the upper tropical oceans, significantly increase the intensity of tropical cyclones. When tropical cyclones pass over these regions, the increased stratification and stability within the layer reduce storm-induced vertical mixing and sea surface temperature cooling. Their findings underscore the importance of observing salinity structure in deep tropical barrier layer regions.  As the hydrological cycle responds to global warming, any associated changes in the barrier layer distribution must be considered in projecting future tropical cyclone activity.</p> {931D7F26-CAE3-4E2E-8070-B1CC81A6639C}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-08-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/08/koch-barton-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Arctic clouds, major controllers of the radiative budget, are now better represented in climate models.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:18 -0400 <p>The Arctic Ocean’s surface alters between ocean and sea ice. This variation, along with atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics, affects Arctic cloud properties. DOE scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) developed a method to evaluate Arctic clouds in the Community Earth System Model’s (CESM) two most recent global atmospheric models that are used in the coupled transient climate projections, the Community Atmospheric Model Version 4 and 5 (CAM4 and CAM5). Clouds were first examined during distinctly separate dynamical and thermo-dynamical conditions, which were called synoptic regimes. Next, clouds fractions for each regime were examined when the regime occurred over open-ocean, sea ice, and land. The scientists ran CAM4 and CAM5 using the DOE Cloud-Associated Parameterizations Testbed (CAPT) framework to ensure the dynamics and thermodynamics in the models were similar to the observations. From CAM4 to CAM5, there was a large community effort to improve the representation of boundary layer clouds, which are prevalent in the Arctic.</p> {34724901-4530-4070-91EA-9629A3EBDF58}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-08-b/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/08/single-celled-marine-cyanobacterium-cyanothece-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>A microbe able to produce hydrogen without typical poisoning by oxygen production.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:17 -0400 <p>One challenge to the commercialization of microbial production of hydrogen using sunlight is that the oxygen produced by photosynthesis decreases hydrogen production. Various biological mechanisms have evolved to separate the two reactions and scientists have been looking for engineering solutions, but the challenge is not yet solved. The bacteria produce hydrogen at relatively high rates without high cell density or inducing circadian rhythms, as required in studies by other researchers. Furthermore, there is little photo-damage and decay of the photosynthesis apparatus, perhaps enabled by the removal of excess electrons by the hydrogen production.</p> {69410B29-B4B8-422B-9909-BD007580F9D5}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-08-a/<img src='/~/media/A7C71133E9E44C73BDB4C360EDFEF132.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Squeezing creates new class of material built from clusters of carbon atoms.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:21:34 -0400<p>How do you dent diamond, one of the Earth&rsquo;s hardest materials? Researchers supported by the Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments EFRC&nbsp;created a new substance that can do just that. To make the new material, the researchers started with &lsquo;buckyballs,&rsquo; soccer-ball shaped cages composed of sixty carbons, and mixed them in a liquid solvent called xylene.&nbsp; The molecules of xylene served to &ldquo;link&rdquo; the buckyballs together in a regular, crystalline pattern like beads on a string. Finally, they squeezed the mixture in a diamond anvil cell in-situ in the synchrotron beam of the Advanced Photon Source. &nbsp; Something extraordinary happened around 320,000 times atmospheric pressure; the buckyballs collapsed and formed disordered, amorphous clusters but the xylene molecules held fast and still tethered the amorphous pieces together in a pattern like before. The resulting, never-before-seen structure was surprisingly hard; strong enough to dent the diamond anvil. The material stayed in the same structure even after the pressure had been released, which makes it potentially useful for a variety of different devices, especially future electronics. (<a href="/news/in-focus/2012/08-27-12/">Excerpt from DOE-SC's "In&nbsp;Focus"</a>)</p>{D22228B8-E380-443C-8C9F-1A5C90F59B34}http://science.energy.gov/np/highlights/2012/np-2012-07-a/<img src='/~/media/np/images/highlights/2012/07/acctinium-225-in-2-v-vials-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>High yield production of Ac-225 and Ra-223 by high energy proton bombardment of natural thorium targets.Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:46:54 -0500 <p>Ac-225 is a rare but medically-prized radioactive isotope, since it has the ability to precisely destroy cancerous cells without damaging healthy surrounding cells. It also has a short half-life, which means it ceases to be radioactive after a short period of time. However, production of the isotope has been costly and meager, too meager to support essential clinical trials of medicines based on the isotope. Those shortages of Ac-225 could be significantly lessened by this research. Using proton beams, lab researchers demonstrated that the current annual supply of Ac-225 can be produced in less than a week. Beyond their expected use in treating common cancers, new medicines made with Ac-225 are likely to be especially effective at treating diffuse cancers, which have spread through healthy tissue instead of staying concentrated in a single tumor. Diffuse cancers are among the most difficult to treat, and in many cases are considered untreatable. A collaborative project among Los Alamos, Brookhaven, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories is underway to develop production scale targetry and chemical processing as continuation of this research.</p> {C85B942E-043A-4E98-9C4B-B09786ECD2D4}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-07-b/<img src='/~/media/34DCFCF74E5649CDA7424992D2865AA9.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Nanoscale features in rocks enable more carbon dioxide to be trapped as a solid carbonate material underground.Fri, 10 May 2013 16:30:03 -0400<p>Advanced experiments and computations have shown that underground carbonate mineral nucleation and growth is strongly dependent on nanoscale features such as the pore structure and surface topography of permeable rocks and the interfacial energies between rock surfaces and solid carbonates. This research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory&rsquo;s Center for Nanoscale Control of Geologic CO₂, Washington University in St. Louis, and Oregon State University provides the quantitative parameters necessary to develop advanced models that describe how nucleation and growth of carbonate occur in porous media that contain multiple minerals with different surface properties and micro- to nanoscale pores. In carbon capture and storage, CO₂ is captured from power plant exhaust and other sources and injected underground into porous rock formations where it mixes with ambient salt water and may remain for 1000&rsquo;s of years. Although it is expected that CO₂ can be transformed to carbonate minerals, it is unknown how fast this will occur and how the addition of new carbonate mineral in the rock formations will affect the short and long-term behavior of the system. This research will enable more realistic modeling of mineral formation from the injected CO₂ and thus increase the pace of deployment of this critical energy technology.</p>{E51F3176-915C-41B1-A404-1AEB2F94CF2E}http://science.energy.gov/np/highlights/2012/np-2012-06-a/<img src='/~/media/np/images/highlights/2012/06/fig1-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>New calculations have quantified the boundaries and uncertainties of the ‘chart of the nuclides’—the extended periodic table of all matter.Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:45:56 -0500 <p>There are 288 stable or nearly stable nuclei that occur in nature, comprising 99.9 percent of the matter in the visible world around us. Some 3,000 more have been synthesized in laboratories. These nuclear species have been mapped onto a chart of nuclides—the periodic table of the nuclear physics world. Until recently, the boundaries marking the edge of where nuclei can exist in this nuclear landscape—where the addition of one more proton or one more neutron will cause the nucleus to fall apart—has been highly uncertain, especially for heavier elements. Research using a technique known as nuclear density functional theory carried out at the University of Tennessee and ORNL using one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers now predicts that the number of bound nuclides with atomic numbers between 2 and 120 is around 7,000. These findings represent a major advance in our understanding of nuclear stability, and where the ultimate limits of nuclear existence occur. Understanding the stability of nuclides is important to many applications and to natural phenomena such as the stellar processes that create the matter around us.</p> {5D57B763-F10F-455A-A9DA-9F8F5304AD9B}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-06-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/06/ad-2009-sep-20-amanita-muscaria-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Insights into the origin of ligninases can help develop processes to convert biomass into bioenergy.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:19 -0400 <p>Much of the world’s coal was generated 300–360 million years ago during the Carboniferous period. Wood (a major pool of organic carbon that is highly resistant to decay largely due to its lignin content) was deposited, transformed to peat, and eventually transformed to coal. But coal formation may also have declined from an unlikely source - fungi. These fungi had enzymes (ligninases) capable of degrading lignin, a category of enzyme important for the Department of Energy’s bioenergy mission, since lignin in plant biomass hinders biomass conversion to biofuels. By comparing the genomic sequences of 31 fungi, including 12 sequenced for this study, the researchers showed that genes able to degrade lignin first appeared at the end of this period. Instead of becoming coal, the plant biomass decayed and the carbon was released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.</p> {CC675AE6-9F6E-43AD-A1F4-0F1A13A02B43}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-06-b/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/06/journal-pone-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>A microbe not known for cellulose degradation has 15 cellulases that may improve biofuel production.Fri, 10 May 2013 16:38:17 -0400 <p>The biotechnology and biofuels industries are particularly interested in cellulases, enzymes that break down cellulose, the most abundant organic compound on Earth and the component that makes up 33 percent of all plant matter. Cellulases from a group of aerobic bacteria called <em>Actinobacteria</em> are of special interest as sources of enzymes useful for biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. They have distinct features and cellular organization when contrasted to those in anaerobic bacteria (such as the <em>Clostridia</em>). The DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) has sequenced the genomes of eleven diverse strains of these bacteria. Comparative analysis using the JGI’s Integrated Microbial Genomes system followed by experimental verification identified eight cellulolytic Actinobacterial species that were not previously known to degrade cellulose. Of seven organisms tested, six showed activity in assays for cellulases. This work, conducted under the umbrella of the JGI’s Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) project, broadens the repertoire of useful enzymes beyond those previously recognized.</p> {A76E7315-2A24-46AA-8610-56925C2E5A25}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-05-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/05/drell-blanc-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>A polar alga with lipid metabolism enzymes may prove useful harnessing algae for biodiesel production.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:20 -0400 <p>Algae are of major interest to researchers who are developing alternative energy sources. For example, lipids making up algal membranes can be transformed into biodiesel. One photosynthetic alga, <em>Coccomyxa subellipsoidea</em> C-169, was recently isolated in Antarctica and now is the first alga from a polar region to have its genome sequenced. Surprisingly, the alga thrives at temperatures close to 20ºC, though it is tolerant of the cold temperatures in the Antarctic.<em> C. subellipsoidea</em> was sequenced by the DOE Joint Genome Institute and its predicted protein families were compared with those from several other sequenced green algae. This greater versatility of lipid metabolism is thought to have contributed to its adaptation to cold.</p> {A8181AFC-8ECE-4D62-9E2D-9B5876F86778}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-05-b/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/05/koch-gao-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Regional Climate Models predict greater drought resistance in southwest U.S. than General Circulation Models (GCMs).Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:20 -0400 <p>Getting an accurate projection of water cycle changes for the southwestern United States (SW) is becoming increasingly more urgent in light of regional drought trends and changes in the Colorado River flow. A research team, including a DOE scientist from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, analyzed the future climate from four pairs of regional and global climate models (RCMs and GCMs). The water cycle of the region is dominated by winter storms that maintain a positive annual net precipitation (precipitation minus evapotranspiration). The analysis shows that compared to GCMs, RCMs simulate enhanced transient moisture convergence in the SW, although both robustly simulate large-scale drying due to enhanced moisture divergence by the divergent mean flow in a warmer climate.</p> {D6D61DA6-9190-46CE-9E6C-09E22308F05E}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-05-c/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/05/liu-mam-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Complex aerosol processes accurately captured in climate models with a new, minimal aerosol module.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:20 -0400 <p>Accurately simulating climate change requires inclusion of full interactions between tiny aerosol particles, clouds and climate. This in turn requires that aerosol size and mixing conditions be resolved and that multiple species be carried in the climate model. A new aerosol scheme that includes these features is now available for the Community Earth System Model (CESM1). DOE researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory led the development of a Modal Aerosol Module (MAM) for the Community Atmospheric Model version 5 (CAM5), the atmospheric component of CESM1. MAM can simulate the aerosol size distribution and mixing states between different aerosol components, and can treat numerous aerosol physical and chemical processes. Two versions of MAM were developed: a complete version with 7 aerosol modes serving as the benchmark and used for detailed aerosol studies, and a simplified version with 3 aerosol modes used for decade to century climate simulations. MAM does a good job of simulating the temporal and spatial distributions of aerosol mass, number and size distribution, and aerosol optical depth compared to observations, although some biases, such as underestimation of black carbon in the Arctic and underestimation of aerosol loading near source regions, will require further development. MAM is being used in CESM1 for the International Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report. MAM has also been adopted by other major global and regional models (e.g., NASA GEOS-5 and the Weather Research Forecast Model).  The complexities of aerosol properties and processes, and limitations of computer resources have made it a challenge for global climate models (GCMs) to realistically represent aerosols.</p> {5C548C32-C0EB-4655-8D37-EE34E68CEA69}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-05-a/<img src='/~/media/938DFCA0F40548D0A12A91F3E7F75E67.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Novel, liquid-less design promises to improve long-term stability and durability of dye-sensitized solar cells while hitting high efficiency marks.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:21:32 -0400<p>Current solar cell technologies are largely constrained by high production costs, low operating efficiency, and limited durability.&nbsp;A low-cost alternative to current silicon-based solar cell devices are thin film solar cells, such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs are made up of inexpensive, environmentally-benign titanium dioxide nanoparticles coated with light-absorbing dye molecules, and a liquid electrolyte.&nbsp; Research by the Argonne Northwestern Solar Energy Research (ANSER) EFRC at Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University has solved long-standing corrosion and durability problems associated with the liquid electrolyte. The corrosive, volatile liquid was replaced with a novel semiconducting inorganic solid, resulting in a solar cell that has competitive conversion efficiencies (10%) while withstanding high temperatures, high levels of humidity, and accelerated aging tests.&nbsp;The solid semiconductor consisting of cesium tin iodide (CsSnI₃) can be processed in solution, an appealing characteristic for keeping manufacturing costs low.&nbsp;The semiconductor also enhances light absorption of the DSSC in the red region of the solar spectrum, thereby outperforming conventional DSSCs. This discovery could lead to new solar cells that are both longer-lasting and highly efficient, while costing less to manufacture.&nbsp;A patent has been filed for this development.</p>{55E59475-DA49-4A22-8B96-502CFFED2AAB}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-05-b/<img src='/~/media/ADEC60372B184F41957E860AF1A0A46C.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Visualization of electron pair binding confirms predictions about how high temperature superconductivity works.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:21:33 -0400<p>By measuring how strongly electrons are bound together, forming &ldquo;Cooper pairs&rdquo;, in an iron-based superconductor, scientists at the Center for the Emergent Superconductivity Energy Frontier Research Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cornell University, and St. Andrews University, with materials developers at AIST in Japan, provide direct evidence that magnetism holds the key to this material&rsquo;s ability to carry current with no resistance. Several groups of theorists had hypothesized that if the electrons in a superconductor have their magnetic moments pointing in opposite directions, they could overcome their mutual repulsion to join forces in so-called Cooper pairs &mdash; thus carrying current with no loss. According to the theory, the strength of the &lsquo;glue&rsquo; holding electron pairs together would be different for specific electrons and depend on the direction that the electrons are traveling &mdash; with the pairing usually being stronger in a given direction than at 45&deg; to that direction.&nbsp;The researchers figured out how to measure the predicted direction dependence (anisotropy) in the energy necessary to unbind a pair by using a specially developed application of scanning tunneling microscopy. Their novel method, known as &ldquo;multi-band Bogoliubov quasiparticle scattering interference,&rdquo; discovered the anisotropic pairing &ldquo;signature&rdquo; predicted for three electronic bands of a model superconductor, lithium iron arsenide.</p>{95EE58C7-FF86-4361-AA38-2322621F2E0A}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-04-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/04/binary-cultivation-in-photobioreactors-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>New insights into the effect of light quality on bacterial metabolism and respiration.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:21 -0400 <p>Cyanobacteria are prime candidates for the biological production of biofuels, especially hydrogen. They photosynthesize in sunlight, have relatively fast growth rates, are tolerant to extreme environments, and can accumulate high amounts of intracellular compounds and produce large quantities of H₂. The model and experiments provide new insights into the effect of light quality on metabolism and the bacteria’s mechanisms for balancing reductant and electron flows. The model differs from similar models of other cyanobacteria in its detailed treatment of the photosynthesis and respiratory systems. The photobioreactor features dual sources of monochromatic light that can vary photon flux with wavelengths that are tuned to the two bacterial photosynthesis systems.</p> {A5BC3BF9-BFDA-4030-81B9-C06A32DC58E7}http://science.energy.gov/ascr/highlights/2012/ascr-2012-04-a/<img src='/~/media/ascr/images/highlights/2012/04/desal-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>NERSC helps researchers design new desalination technology.Fri, 10 May 2013 16:35:31 -0400 <p>Guided by advanced molecular modeling at the National Energy Research Supercomputing Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists are investigating how to turn atom-thick carbon layers into membranes for a new and improved desalination method in places with inadequate fresh water. “Without any actual experimental demonstration, what our calculations tell us is that the performance of the graphene membrane for water desalination would be very high,” says Jeffrey Grossman, a materials scientist who is MIT’s Carl Richard Soderberg, associate professor of power engineering and leader of the investigation. Graphene, first described in 1962 and the focus of a 2010 Nobel Prize in physics, is a chicken-wire mesh of carbon atoms that provide the underpinnings for graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and buckyballs. What has sparked Grossman’s group’s interest is graphene’s phenomenal structural strength and chemical attributes that might make it ideal for filtering salt from seawater. The goal is to drill just-the-right-width, billionth-of-a-meter nanopores into graphene’s normally impenetrable surface so pressurized water alone could get through without damaging the ultrathin structure. That might make it more efficient than the reverse osmosis process that now offers the best performance of all seawater desalination options. The problem is reverse osmosis has comparatively high costs and energy use. Those faults mean that although seawater is widely available, “dramatically new technologies” are needed to make desalination “a sustainable water supply option,” Grossman and graduate student David Cohen-Tanugi reported earlier this year in the journal Nano Letters. Computer modeling is increasingly essential to modern-day chemistry and materials science because, according to Grossman “it sits in between theory and experiment,” so that “we can do actually what an experiment would have a hard time doing, which is to peel away the levels of complexity one by one.”</p> {332740D4-A9D4-4396-A2B1-5A7C8B340540}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-03-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/03/mt-ruapehu-ash-snow-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Snow reflects less solar radiation when contaminated with black carbon.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:22 -0400 <p>Climate models indicate that the reduction of surface albedo caused by black carbon (BC) contamination of snow contributes to global warming and near-worldwide melting of ice. However, model predictions of BC-caused snow albedo reduction over a range of BC levels and snow grain sizes have not been verified by measurements. The main reason is that the BC effect is typically masked in natural environments by other variables that influence albedo, such as snow grain size, snow density, snow depth and the interaction of sunlight with the underlying surface, tree cover and solar zenith angle. These methods enabled quantification of the snow albedo reduction associated with increasing amounts of BC and as a function of snow grain size. The study verified that black carbon contamination at levels that have been found in natural settings appreciably reduces snow albedo. Increasing the size of snow grains decreased snow albedo and amplified the radiative perturbation of black carbon, which justifies the aging-related positive feedbacks that are included in climate models. Moreover, these data provide an extensive verification of a snow, ice, and aerosol radiation model which will be included in the next assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.</p> {C6F56625-C338-4900-9454-C5CF34C50A47}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-03-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2012/03/cgs-smit-hydrocarbon-separation-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Novel material for purifying gases could significantly lower industrial energy costs.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:16:58 -0400 <p>Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley–based EFRC, the Center for Gas Separation Relevant to Clean Energy Technologies, have experimentally confirmed the theoretical predictions that a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) material could purify several industrially important gases at nearly ambient conditions. MOFs are crystalline compounds consisting of metal clusters attached to organic molecules to form porous structures. Neutron diffraction of the MOF reveals a large surface area and exposed iron cation sites, which can preferentially adsorb unsaturated hydrocarbon molecules. It exhibits excellent performance for the purification of hydrocarbon gases, such as methane, ethylene, and propylene, useful for fuels and plastics, from gas mixtures at conditions much milder than those currently used for the separation of these gases. This patented discovery could result in cost savings for the oil and chemical industries and lower their environmental impacts by replacing existing large-scale energy-intensive gas separation processes. Current production involves cracking longer chain hydrocarbons at high temperatures (up to 500-600 °C) and separating the resulting products at high pressures and cryogenic temperatures (-100 °C). This material may also be capable of purifying natural gas streams containing a number of impurity gases.</p> {3E3C967A-612F-4580-937F-FA496AAC1850}http://science.energy.gov/ber/highlights/2012/ber-2012-02-a/<img src='/~/media/ber/images/highlights/2012/02/ivanova-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Does polar ice erosion come from atmospheric heating or from oceanic advection of warm waters?Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:23 -0400 <p>The model passes an important test of sea-ice distribution changes: when the model is driven by the observed-reanalysis winds of the 1990’s, it successfully simulates the observed dipole pattern of ice concentration changes characteristic of the changes associated with North Atlantic Oscillation pressure and circulation changes.  The model successfully simulates the first mode of sea ice concentration variability, which is characterized by a dipole pattern of ice concentration anomalies, coherent with the atmospheric North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pressure pattern. The model ocean-ice system was forced with NCEP/NCAR atmospheric reanalysis and then run for the two NAO periods during the 1990s.  The upper ocean mixed layer heat budgets were analyzed in the Barents, Nordic, and Irminger Seas to determine the winter-to-winter changes in the ocean heat advection and mixed layer net fluxes and these were then related to the ice changes. The ocean advection anomalies were also closely related to anomalous bottom ice melt rates. However although the oceanic temperature advection is of the same order of magnitude as the net atmospheric heat fluxes, the latter are always larger. Entrainment of heat from the deeper ocean may also play a key role in the upper ocean heat balance and this may be strongly influenced by ocean heat advection. Future research will consider the role of the deeper ocean upwelling, and will continue to investigate the relative importance of atmospheric and oceanic processes in eroding polar sea-ice.</p> {919B9B1C-E837-4B31-99B7-7C46FEC0B565}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2012/bes-2012-02-d/<img src='/~/media/A8B670E8FCE14632BBB8A00367828038.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>A single reversible catalyst enables energy to be both stored and released on demand.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:21:29 -0400<p>Alternative energy sources like wind and solar produce intermittent power that must be stored for later use when the wind stops blowing or the sun sets.&nbsp;One storage mechanism is to transform electrical energy from solar and wind into chemical energy like hydrogen, but this can be complex and costly.&nbsp;To produce hydrogen efficiently, Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) researchers are designing a hydrogen splitting catalyst based on the hydrogenase enzyme found in nature. Hydrogenase cleaves two linked hydrogen atoms (dihydrogen) into electrical energy, and it can reverse the reaction to form dihydrogen.&nbsp;This enzyme also has features CME researchers want &ndash; a single catalyst that works at ambient temperature and pressure, and an active site that uses abundant metals such as iron or nickel.&nbsp;To build the synthetic catalyst, molecular strands called ligands were attached to a nickel active site.&nbsp;Using theory and experiments, researchers varied size, shape, and electronic properties of the ligands to &ldquo;tune&rdquo; catalytic activity.&nbsp;One nickel complex displayed reversible dihydrogen production and cleavage with high efficiency &ndash; the first example of a molecular complex to catalyze these reversible reactions.&nbsp;While the catalyst is slow, it wastes little energy and marks an important first step towards improving capabilities for energy storage.</p>{C24B58DB-6E77-46D5-863D-9B9F4E5448BB}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2011/bes-2011-12-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2011/12/cees-thackeray-sei-layer-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>A new spectroscopic “fingerprinting” technique has been developed at a DOE user facility to identify chemical degradation products deep inside a working rechargeable battery.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:17:00 -0400 <p>Understanding what happens inside of rechargeable batteries is critical to making them safer and last longer. For commercially important lithium-based batteries, a new tool has been developed that uses high resolution lithium and oxygen spectroscopy to study the degradation products formed in a working battery. Inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) measures and analyzes the energy lost by x-rays when they are scattered by light elements such as lithium; the resulting spectrum is very sensitive to the bonding and chemical structure of the atoms in the material being analyzed. Unlike traditional spectroscopic probes, IXS uses high energy x-rays that can penetrate deep inside a working battery – assessing the elemental changes at the critical solid-electrolyte interface(SEI) inside the battery. Work at Argonne National Laboratory supported by the Center for Electrical Energy Storage, a DOE Energy Research Frontier Center, is using lithium and oxygen spectra of pure, known compounds to create a catalogue of spectroscopic fingerprints of the possible decomposition productions in lithium-ion batteries. Theoretical calculations agree with the measured spectra of pure compounds, providing validation that the IXS spectra can be used to probe an unknown mixture of SEI products. Ongoing studies will use the fingerprints to determine the composition of the SEI and to decouple decomposition reactions from actual discharge products for a Li-air battery. This technique is now available to the broader battery research community at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source.</p> {4312E512-F3C4-440C-9D33-3668A3A6D307}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2011/bes-2011-12-c/<img src='/~/media/564DE5CBE1104A80A3C6BB936F063CC7.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Laboratory measurements of “carrier multiplication” verified in real solar energy photovoltaic devices made of tiny quantum dots.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:13:33 -0400<p>Carrier multiplication (CM), also known as multiexciton generation (MEG), is a phenomenon whereby a single photon creates more than one electron-hole pair, which can boost the current in a solar cell. The development of quantum dot CM-enhanced solar cells has been frustrated by inconsistencies in measured CM efficiencies that thwart materials optimization efforts, and poor conductivity in quantum dot films that makes collection of the extra carriers inefficient. Recently, Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics (CASP) research at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has made key advances on both fronts. In parallel efforts, CASP spectroscopists established a rigorous and reproducible protocol for evaluating true CM efficiencies of different materials, while CASP synthesis researchers developed an effective methodology for fabricating device-grade highly conductive quantum dot films. These efforts culminated in the first exploratory solar cell to show an appreciable increase in current directly attributable to CM, in complete agreement with the spectroscopically determined efficiencies. This is a seminal achievement in the field of third-generation solar technologies, which seeks high efficiencies in low-cost devices through exploitation of novel physics such as CM.</p>{FA76C0A6-7CC8-43D2-8446-28ED3F447DF3}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2011/bes-2011-12-d/<img src='/~/media/7759C2046B074D14BDFDB00567405E75.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>New insights from synchrotron-based studies are helping to assess the potential of new biofuels.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:13:34 -0400<p>Evaluation of new fuels in engines is hampered by both expense and need for large quantities of the test fuel &mdash; a problem given the limited availability for many potential biofuels. Predictive computer modeling based on quantum mechanics and chemistry promises to reduce the number of experiments needed for evaluation. To validate the fidelity of combustion chemistry models, researchers at the CEFRC conducted rigorous experimental tests of the computer predictions for combustion of butanol, an alternative fuel nearing commercialization.&nbsp;Using the Advanced Light Source, a synchrotron that generates bright beams of x-rays capable of revealing atomic and electronic structure of matter, the scientists were able to quantify the chemical species in butanol flames, including species not observable using ordinary techniques.&nbsp;While showing that the model predictions resemble the experimental data and are generally accurate, the research identified areas for improvement. Overall, the results suggest the computer modeling approach currently being developed will accelerate the evaluation of proposed fuels while reducing cost and fuel use.</p>{928E672F-9926-4038-9094-E7913094611B}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2011/bes-2011-11-a/<img src='/~/media/23AF46BE7E3F4EFFAFAB4B22463F0C11.ashx' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Predicted by theory, and confirmed by experiments, novel materials are being discovered to improve photovoltaic efficiency.Fri, 10 May 2013 11:13:33 -0400<p>In the quest for more efficient photovoltaic technologies, scientists at the Center for Inverse Design (CID) EFRC are using an unconventional approach to discover new materials for improved transparent semiconductors for solar energy. It is relatively easy to improve positive-charge (p-type) conductivity in small-gap semiconductors, such as silicon. Small quantities of atoms, called dopants, that pull electrons from the semiconductor are added, resulting in a concentration of positively charged &ldquo;holes&rdquo;&mdash;the charge carriers for p-type conductors. However, it is difficult to combine p-type conductivity and optical transparency in the wide gap materials that are desired for PV applications; wide gap materials could enable more efficient devices due to their high temperature and voltage performance. To solve this challenge, CID uses theory to establish design rules for desired properties and to screen candidate oxides, and then synthesizes and experimentally characterizes those with the best predicted properties. Theory predicted that spinel cobalt zinc oxide (Co₂ZnO₄) with additions of magnesium or nickel would increase hole concentration and thus conductivity. Experiments demonstrated a 20-fold increase in hole density with magnesium dopants and a 100-fold increase with nickel dopants. These easily grown oxides may enhance solar panel efficiencies over currently available transparent conducting oxides.</p>{D20FD8B4-7162-4BB6-82AE-DDDC4590EEC5}http://science.energy.gov/np/highlights/2011/np-2011-04-a/<img src='/~/media/np/images/highlights/2011/04/dunlop-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Observation of these particles in cosmic rays with space based detectors would imply large amounts of anti-matter somewhere in the universe.Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:45:55 -0500 <p>The world we live in is made of what we call “matter,” and our current understanding of physics tells us that when matter is produced an equal amount of “antimatter” should be produced. Observations of gold ions colliding at very high energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory in fact show that particles are produced as matter-antimatter pairs. The STAR detector at this facility has observed the heaviest anti-nucleus ever found: anti-helium, also known as the anti-alpha particle. Finding these anti-alphas among many hundreds of particles produced in each collision was exceptionally difficult, as they are produced very rarely at the rate of only 18 being found in over 1 billion collisions of gold nuclei. This low yield of anti-alpha particles is explained well by a hypothesis where anti-neutrons and anti-protons produced in the collision of two gold nuclei are by chance close enough to combine to form the anti-alpha particle. The relatively small number of anti-alphas produced in such collisions implies that if they are observed in cosmic rays with detectors like the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer attached to the International Space Station, the result would imply large quantities of anti-matter, such as an anti-star, somewhere in the universe.</p> {F5AC00FD-A797-49EF-89B7-299C644F1889}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2011/bes-2011-04-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2011/04/kp-environment-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Ames Laboratory invented a non-toxic, “lead-free” solder that is now used to manufacture electronic components worldwide.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:17:00 -0400 <p>Composed of lead and tin, traditional solder has been used for thousands of years to fuse together metal parts. Solder melts rapidly at one temperature, flows easily, and then freezes quickly creating a strong, durable bond making it ideal for assembling electronics. However, lead is a highly toxic material and in the 1990s there was a concern that this might be a substantial new threat to the environment as the lead leaches out of electronic devices buried in landfills. This problem led BES-funded researchers at Ames Laboratory to see if their understanding of how metals interact could be used to identify a replacement for traditional tin-lead solder in order to reduce the potential environmental concerns. Their research discovered a combination of copper, tin, and silver which, when mixed together, has a lower melting temperature than each metal has separately. The new alloy was determined to be an excellent substitute for the lead-containing product – and worked at a temperature that could be handled with standard soldering equipment. The work has been licensed by nearly 50 companies worldwide since 2002. Subsequently, additional research developed slight compositional modifications for special soldering applications. Current work is looking into potential additives to the tin-silver-copper formula to further strengthen the solder to combat the heat that is generated in advanced electronics.</p> {EE797E5E-C632-47E2-A8E9-7E5AFEBC7157}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2011/bes-2011-02-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2011/02/kp-uranium-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Understanding the interaction of uranium in soils may lead to new ways to clean-up contaminated ground.Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:27:23 -0400 <p>Determining how radioactive material sticks to soil and affects its movement into nearby water sources is a major challenge for cleaning up nuclear waste sites. This waste, which may include uranium, can be diffuse as well as difficult to isolate and remove. To reduce the cost and complexity of complete removal, innovative and inexpensive methods are needed to expedite clean-up efforts around the world, especially in sites with vast areas of contamination. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered that the surface of a common soil mineral, aluminum oxide, adheres to uranium making it less mobile. The researchers assembled a detailed picture of how uranium adheres to the mineral surface using a computational model. By modeling the behavior of uranium in a complex subsurface environment, they were able to show that uranium sticks to the surface of aluminum oxide without changing it in any way and that a more acidic environment improves how well the two stick together. This cluster model approach used by the researchers allows for a straight forward comparison to be made between different sorption mechanisms and predictions can be directly related to X-ray adsorption experiment measurements. This approach can be used to model surface reactivity and be further utilized in other complex model systems.</p> {DCF5436D-B3D0-4460-B732-13A8547E32D2}http://science.energy.gov/bes/highlights/2009/bes-2009-06-a/<img src='/~/media/bes/images/highlights/2009/06/samms-final-frame-thumb.jpg' align='left' style='height:75px;width:135px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;'/>Understanding ceramic chemistry leads the way to a new remediation technologyMon, 18 Mar 2013 10:17:02 -0400 <p>Basic research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a cross-disciplinary technology that coats mesoporous silica material with synthesized ligands, or binding molecules, which can serve many purposes including attracting and holding contaminants, such as mercury. This technology, called SAMMS short for Self-assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports, self-assembles a single layer of ligand onto the mesporous ceramic or silica supports. Because the ceramic or silica is so porous, the high surface area creates a high density (≈1000 m2/g) of contamination binding sites. A small amount – about a tablespoon – has the equivalent surface area of a football field, with binding molecules covering the available surface. These properties add up to a product that is about 500 times faster and much less expensive than previous mercury remediation methods. Due to its structure and chemistry, SAMMS can be modified to meet broader needs. The technology is used to treat groundwater, contaminated mining impoundments, industrial process streams, and contaminated oil. SAMMS is also being used to sequester a variety of contaminants, including heavy metals like mercury and lead, anions like arsenate and selenite, and radioactive materials like radiocesium and radioiodide. Commercialized through Steward Advanced Materials, SAMMS recognitions include an R&amp;D 100 Award and Popular Science magazine‘s Grand Award winner for Green Technologies in their Best of What’s New Awards in 2009.</p>