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Materials Science
Nanotubes with lids mimic real biology
When water and ions move together through channels only a nanometer wide, they behave in unusual ways. In these tight spaces, water molecules line up in single file. This forces ions to shed some of the water molecules that normally surround them, leading to the unique physics of ion transport. Biological channels are especially adept at this behavior, often choreographing…
Light-based 3D printing lets scientists program plastic properties at the microscale
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have co-developed a new way to precisely control the internal structure of common plastics during 3D printing, allowing a single printed object to seamlessly shift from rigid to flexible using only light. In a paper published today in Science, the researchers describe a technique called crystallinity regulation…
LLNL’s energy scale-up brainstorming event focused on accelerating pilot-ready technologies
Solving tomorrow’s challenges in energy security requires scientists to develop new pathways to streamline innovation. To help achieve this goal, the Global Security Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently hosted an “Energy Scale-up Brainstorming Day.” More than 60 researchers across a broad range of expertise gathered to engage in interactive…
From fleeting to stable: scientists uncover recipe for new carbon dioxide-based energetic materials
When materials are compressed, their atoms are forced into unusual arrangements that do not normally exist under everyday conditions. These configurations are often fleeting: when the pressure is released, the atoms typically relax back to a stable low-pressure state. Only a few very specific materials, like diamond, retain their high-pressure structure after returning to…
New code connects microscopic insights to the macroscopic world
In inertial confinement fusion, a capsule of fuel begins at temperatures near zero and pressures close to vacuum. When lasers compress that fuel to trigger fusion, the material heats up to millions of degrees and reaches pressures similar to the core of the sun. That process happens within a miniscule amount of space and time. To understand this process, scientists need to…
Next-generation materials for additive manufacturing
Next-generation technology requires next-generation materials that can be tailored to exact mission requirements. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has already revolutionized industries like aerospace engineering by enabling previously unthinkable component designs. However, this technique has been largely limited to pre-existing metallic alloys. This is due to the…
LLNL researchers break speed and scale barriers in 3D nanofabrication with new meta-optics platform
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineers and scientists, in collaboration with Stanford University, have demonstrated a breakthrough 3D nanofabrication approach that transforms two-photon lithography (TPL) from a slow, lab-scale technique into a wafer-scale manufacturing tool without sacrificing submicron precision. Published today in Nature, the team’s TPL…
3D-printed helixes show promise as THz optical materials
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have optimized and 3D-printed helix structures as optical materials for Terahertz (THz) frequencies, a potential way to address a technology gap for next-generation telecommunications, non-destructive evaluation, chemical/biological sensing and more. The printed microscale helixes reliably create circularly…
Energy-efficient process delivers rare-earth element for magnets
Neodymium is a rare-earth element essential for producing the strongest permanent magnets, which are widespread in defense technologies, hard drives, medical imaging devices, electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and more. Despite its designation in the U.S. as a critical material, neodymium is primarily mined and refined overseas. China controls much of the supply chain,…
Turning wastewater into valuable fertilizer
Almost half of the planet’s population depends on synthetic fertilizers to grow the food they eat. But that fertilizer comes at a cost — about two percent of the world’s energy budget. Improving efficiency and cutting costs of producing fertilizer would have big, global impacts. To that end, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are developing a…
From inception to ignition and beyond: Suhas Bhandarkar’s target fabrication career
Tiny parts and absolute meticulousness define Suhas Bhandarkar’s award-winning 20-year career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As group leader for Target Fabrication Science and Technology (S&T), he leads a team that helps transform LLNL’s physicists’ bold ideas into reality at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Bhandarkar’s path began with a B.S…
Unique resin allows 3D-printing method to add and subtract
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is normally a one-way street. In a digital light processing (DLP) printer, a structured pattern is projected onto a layer of liquid resin, which cures and solidifies. This builds an object up, layer-by-layer. But if the print isn’t exactly right, there’s no easy way to fix it after the fact: it usually ends up in the trash. In a new…
X-ray technique provides a new tool for nuclear forensics investigations
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are experts in nuclear forensics: the art and science of extracting information about the provenance and history of nuclear materials. Now, they have a new technique to add to their toolkit. In a study published in the Journal of Nuclear Materials, LLNL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists…
California awards grant to LLNL and DarmokTech to develop recyclable sodium batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere: in phones, computers and more. The technology primarily uses liquid electrolytes, which facilitate charge moving from electrode to electrode, but they can also leak, short-circuit the battery and — in some cases — cause fires. In broader applications such as electrical grid storage, lithium scarcity also makes it difficult to rely on…
Miniaturized ion traps show promise of 3D printing for quantum-computing hardware
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the University of California (UC) Berkeley, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara have miniaturized quadrupole ion traps for the first time with 3D printing — a breakthrough in one of the most promising approaches to building a large-scale quantum computer. Quadrupole ion traps have four electrode poles that create…
New book documents optics innovations that were integral to ignition
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a chandelier “holding a system of high-precision optics,” according to a newly published book. But unlike a delicate chandelier illuminating a room, NIF’s thousands of optical components are able to resist or survive damage even under the enormous strain of amplifying and directing NIF…
Controlling water cuts energy costs for ethylene production
Maintaining American energy independence requires minimizing reliance on foreign countries to produce commodity chemicals and fuels. Using carbon dioxide electrolyzers to produce valuable chemical precursors such as ethylene provides one way to diversify domestic feedstocks. But, so far, these devices have been limited by their low efficiency, which makes them energy…
Carbon nanotube ‘smart windows’ offer energy savings
Half of the sun's radiant energy falls outside of the visible spectrum. On a cold day, this extra infrared light provides additional warmth to residential and commercial buildings. On a warm day, it leads to unwanted heating that must be dealt with through energy-intensive climate control methods such as air-conditioning. Visibly transparent “smart windows” that can…
LLNL’s Luis Zepeda-Ruiz wins prestigious award from American Association for Crystal Growth
At a conference held this summer, the American Association for Crystal Growth (AACG) recognized Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist Luis Zepeda-Ruiz with its Gentile Service Award for “long and meritorious service to the crystal growth community.” Named after Tony Gentile, who spent many years serving AACG, this honor has only been bestowed four times…
LLNL demonstrates new model that explains plutonium’s peculiar behavior
Normally, materials expand when heated. Higher temperatures cause atoms to vibrate, bounce around and take up a larger volume. However, for one specific phase of plutonium — called delta-plutonium — the opposite inexplicably occurs: it shrinks above room temperature. As part of its national security mission, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) aims to predict the…
