Energy Frontier Research Center News

January 2013 EFRC Newsletter

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The 7^th edition of Frontiers in Energy Research, the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online on January 23, 2013.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Preventing Laptop Fires and Thermal Runaway

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Researchers point to “self-healing” materials as a potential means of improving lithium ion battery safety. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported in part by the Center for Electrical Energy Storage (CEES), an EFRC led by Michael Thackeray at Argonne National Laboratory.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Profiting from Waste?

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Researchers fashion a record-breaking material to recycle waste heat into electricity. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported in part by the Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion (RMSSEC), an EFRC led by Donald Morelli at Michigan State University.

October 2012 EFRC Newsletter

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:01:00 -0400

The 6^th edition of Frontiers in Energy Research, the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online on October, 2012.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Just One Word—Plastics

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

A “universal” plastic coating could lead to lower cost, more flexible electronic devices. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported in part by the Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials (CISSEM), an EFRC led by Neal Armstrong at the University of Arizona.

In Focus: Dented Diamonds, Carbon Cages, and Exceptional Potential

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Office of Science supported researchers develop new material with amazing hardness and exciting possibilities. This work, featured in the Office of Science's In Focus, was supported by the Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments (EFree) center, an EFRC led by Ho-kwang Mao at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Stories of Discovery and Innovation: Could Cheaper Gasoline be "in the Cards"?

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

EFRC researchers develop ingenious house-of-card structures to improve catalyst performance. This work, featured in the Office of Science's Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI), an EFRC led by Dion Vlachos at the University of Delaware.

July 2012 EFRC Newsletter

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The 5^th edition of Frontiers in Energy Research , the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online on July 11, 2012.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: A Nanoscale "Tune-Up" for Fuel Cells

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Using sophisticated techniques, EFRC researchers are observing, at the molecular level, how hydrogen fuel cells degrade. This work, featured in the Office of Science's Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (emc2), an EFRC led by Héctor D. Abruña at Cornell University.

April 2012 EFRC Newsletter

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:01:00 -0400

The 4^th edition of Frontiers in Energy Research, the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online on April 6, 2012.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Mimicking Nature Backwards and Forwards

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Using biology as their blueprint, EFRC researchers devise a reversible reaction for hydrogen energy storage. This work, featured in the Office of Science's Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME), an EFRC led by Morris Bullock at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Enhancing the Energy Harvest

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

EFRC researchers fashion solar cells with greater than 100% "Quantum Efficiency." This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics (CASP), an EFRC led by Victor Klimov at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: A Step Toward Artificial Photosynthesis

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

EFRC researchers construct an artificial version of a bacterium's light-absorbing "antenna." This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC), an EFRC led by Robert Blankenship at the Washington University in St. Louis.

January 2012 EFRC Newsletter

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:01:00 -0500

The 3^rd edition of Frontiers in Energy Research, the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online in January 2012.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Beyond the Transistor

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

EFRC researchers fabricate a novel device for channeling light. This work, featured in the Office of Science's Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion (LMI), an EFRC led by Harry Atwater at Caltech and the Center for Energy Nanoscience (CEN), an EFRC led by Daniel Dapkus at the University of Southern California.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: More Heat than Light?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Breakthrough solar cell harvests electricity from the sun's thermal energy. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC), an EFRC led by Gang Chen at MIT.

September 2011 EFRC Newsletter

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:01:00 -0400

The 2^nd edition of Frontiers in Energy Research, the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online in September 2011.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Peering into a Quantum Well

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Supercomputer simulation illuminates mysterious "droop" in solid-state lighting. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Center for Energy Efficient Materials (CEEM), an EFRC led by John Bowers at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Beating Nature at her Own Game?

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

New catalyst speeds conversion of electricity to hydrogen fuel. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME), an EFRC led by Morris Bullock at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Trapping the Light Fantastic

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

New solar cell design uses advanced optics and nanotechnology to maximize performance and minimize cost. Discovery moves from lab bench to initial commercial scale-up inside a year. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion (LMI), an EFRC led by Harry Atwater at Caltech.

Stories of Discovery & Innovation: Scientists Create World’s Smallest Battery

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Effort yields insights that could improve battery performance. This work, featured in the Office of Science’s Stories of Discovery & Innovation, was supported by Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES), an EFRC led by Gary Rubloff at the University of Maryland.

May 2011 EFRC Newsletter

Mon, 02 May 2011 13:01:00 -0400

The 1^rst edition of Frontiers in Energy Research, the EFRC Newsletter created by an editorial board of early career EFRC members, was published online in May 2011.

NPR's Science Friday discussed lighting economics with Sandia National Laboratory's EFRC

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Jerry Simmons, director of the EFRC for Solid-State Lighting Science at Sandia National Laboratory, discussed the economics of LED lighting on the September 10th edition of NPR's Science Friday. The story was also covered by Scientific American, The Economist, and The New York Times.

Notre Dame EFRC featured during nationally televised football half-time show

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

NBC aired a video feature of the EFRC Materials Science of Actinides, directed by Peter Burns at Notre Dame, during the half-time of the November 21, 2009 Notre Dame football game.

Associated Press Reports On The SNL EFRC

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Sandia wants to improve the world's lighting by the Associated Press highlights the work of the Sandia National Laboratories EFRC for Solid State Lighting Science directed by Jerry Simmons. The story was picked up by over 100 news agencies including ABC News, Forbes, and The New York Times.

President Obama Visits MIT EFRC

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama spoke with Marc Baldo, director of the Center for Excitonics, and EFRC member Vladimir Bulovic about their clean energy research during his visit to MIT.