News By Location

23-Jul-2020

Machine learning helps scientists interpret crystal patterns

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

For scientists and engineers, the best way to understand a new or unknown material -- whether it's an alloy, a pharmaceutical or a meteorite -- is to delve into its atoms. But, analyzing data from these methods, especially diffraction patterns, is a time-consuming process. Now, Idaho National Laboratory researchers have helped develop a computer model that can interpret diffraction patterns in hours instead of weeks.

8-Jul-2020

Making sound from light, INL researchers probe microcrystals

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

Figuring out what happens to a material over time can be tough - especially in harsh environments. Scientists would like to probe materials while subjecting them to heat, radiation, and other extreme environmental conditions. Now, researchers are one step closer to this capability, with a demonstration to show that light-generated sound waves can remotely and nondestructively reveal a material's inner structure.

1-Jul-2020

Diamonds vs. coal: Discovery could help fine-tune carbon microstructure

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

A group of researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have conducted a study that could lead to improved methods to fine-tune the carbon microstructure. The scientists reported on their work in a June 2020 Materials Today Chemistry paper.

30-Apr-2020

Commercial alloy qualified for new use, expanding nuclear operating temperature

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

A team at Idaho National Laboratory in collaboration with groups at Argonne and Oak Ridge national laboratories, as well as industry consultants and international partners, has for the first time in 30 years gotten a new material, Alloy 617, into the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.

21-Apr-2020

Advancing high temperature electrolysis: Splitting water to store energy as hydrogen

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Recently, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory developed a new electrode material for an electrochemical cell that can efficiently convert excess electricity and water into hydrogen. When demand for electricity increases, the electrochemical cell is reversible, converting hydrogen back into electricity for the grid. The hydrogen could also be used as fuel for heat, vehicles or other applications.

Journal

Nature Communications

18-Jul-2019

Unraveling the secrets of geopolymers

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

We know the beginning: dead sea life on the bottom of the ocean. And we know the end: petroleum, the result of heat and intense pressure acting on that organic matter over eons. But exactly how you get from start to finish is still a mystery. Solving that riddle could improve many industries.

17-Jul-2019

Idaho researchers discover, correct decades-old nuclear measurement error

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

A recent discovery by researchers at Idaho National Laboratory could correct a decades-old error important in the field of nuclear data. The correction could aid scientists studying fallout from nuclear detonations or experimental nuclear fuels for advanced reactors.

11-Jun-2019

Better graphite modeling could speed up licensing

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

As part of licensing, reactor vendors must show that the grade of graphite they're using can take the heat -- and the rest of the environment in a nuclear plant. Proving that could now be easier, thanks to a model developed at Idaho National Laboratory.

5-Jun-2019

A growing use for invasive plants

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

While the fight against invasive species can seem at times a losing battle, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory are finding ways to tip the scales. Transforming certain invasive plants into renewable biofuels puts the unwanted plants to good use and reduces the net energy costs of mitigation efforts.

21-May-2019

Readying nuclear plants for a new power landscape

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

To find solutions that could help keep power reactors in business, the Light Water Reactor Sustainability team is looking at how nuclear plants can reduce operating costs through innovation in business processes and implementation of new technology.