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Study sheds new light on why batteries go bad

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A comprehensive look at how tiny particles in a lithium ion battery electrode behave shows that rapid-charging the battery and using it to do high-power, rapidly draining work may not be as damaging as researchers had thought -- and that the benefits of slow draining and charging may have been overestimated. The results challenge the prevailing view that 'supercharging' batteries is always harder on battery electrodes than charging at slower rates.

Journal: Nature Materials
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, National Science Foundation, Stanford University, the Samsung-MIT Program for Materials Design in Energy Applications

SLAC scientists win prizes for X-ray laser work

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Three scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory received international prizes for their achievements in free-electron laser science, a field that has rapidly accelerated since the launch of SLAC's X-ray laser five years ago.

Plastics in motion: Exploring the world of polymers

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

In an experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory using SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, scientists unraveled the complex behavior of polystyrene, a popular polymer found in packing foams and plastic cups, with a sequence of ultrabright X-ray laser pulses. Their work is detailed in the Aug. 11 edition of Scientific Reports.

Excitonic dark states shed light on TMDC atomic layers

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab researchers believe they have uncovered the secret behind the unusual optoelectronic properties of single atomic layers of TMDC materials, the two-dimensional semiconductors that hold great promise for nanoelectronic and photonic applications.

Journal: Nature

Advanced light source sets microscopy record

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Working at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, researchers used 'soft' X-rays to image structures only five nanometers in size. This resolution is the highest ever achieved with X-ray microscopy.

Journal: Nature Photonics
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Buckyballs and diamondoids join forces in tiny electronic gadget

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have married two unconventional forms of carbon -- one shaped like a soccer ball, the other a tiny diamond -- to make a molecule that conducts electricity in only one direction. This tiny electronic component, known as a rectifier, could play a key role in shrinking chip components down to the size of molecules to enable faster, more powerful devices.

Journal: Nature Communications

SLAC welcomes photon science faculty member Young S. Lee

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

SLAC's newest faculty member, Young S. Lee, studies the most unusual materials in the most down-to-earth possible way: He and his colleagues make pure crystals of minerals and other compounds and then test them for useful quantum properties, such as the ability to conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency.

Scientists map protein in living bacterial cells

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Scientists have for the first time mapped the atomic structure of a protein within a living cell. The technique, which peered into cells with an X-ray laser, could allow scientists to explore some components of living cells as never before. The research, published Aug. 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

A metallic alloy that is tough and ductile at cryogenic temperatures

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A multi-element high‐entropy alloy not only tests out as one of the toughest materials on record, but, unlike most materials, the toughness as well as the strength and ductility of this alloy actually improves at cryogenic temperatures.

Journal: Science
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Peptoid nanosheets at the oil-water interface

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry have developed peptoid nanosheets that form at the interface between oil and water, opening the door to increased structural complexity and chemical functionality for a broad range of applications.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, Defense Threat Reduction Agency