News Releases

A chemical reaction can convert two polluting greenhouse gases into valuable building blocks for cleaner fuels and feedstocks, but the high temperature required for the reaction also deactivates the catalyst. A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found a way to thwart deactivation. The strategy may apply broadly to other catalysts.

A new method to increase fusion-fuel efficiency would involve aligning the quantum spin of deuterium and tritium and changing the mix of the two fuels. The approach could boost tritium-burn efficiency by up to 10 times, reducing tritium needs and lowering fusion system costs. The technique could lead to safer, more compact fusion systems, making fusion energy more practical and affordable.

How to keep stray radiation from “shorting” superconducting qubits; a pair of studies shows where ionizing radiation is lurking and how to banish it.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists are developing a formula for success – by studying how a new type of battery fails. The team’s goal is the design for long-term storage of wind and solar energy, which are produced intermittently, enabling their broader use as reliable energy sources for the electric grid. 

To expand the potential use of diamond in semiconductor and quantum technologies, researchers are developing improved processes for growing the material at lower temperatures that won’t damage the silicon in computer chips. These advances include insights into creating protective hydrogen layers on quantum diamonds without damaging crucial properties like nitrogen-vacancy centers.

A difficult-to-describe nanoscale object called the magnetic skyrmion might one day yield new microelectronic devices that can do much more — for example, massive data storage — all while consuming much less power. But researchers need a more detailed understanding of skyrmions if they are ever to be used reliably in computational devices, including quantum computers. Berkeley Lab scientists led a project to make 3D X-ray images of skyrmions that can characterize or measure the orientations of spins inside the whole object.

Plants the world over are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought, according to a new assessment developed by scientists. The research, detailed in the journal Nature, is expected to improve Earth system simulations that scientists use to predict the future climate, and spotlights the importance of natural carbon sequestration for greenhouse gas mitigation. 

The speed and agility of cloud computing opens doors to completing advanced computational chemistry workflows in days instead of months.