Nanotube designs include (from top) “bumpy,” “zipper” and “multiple zipper.”

Aug. 7, 2006 -- Some of this week's stories:

Nanotube building blocks open up
possibilities for advanced electronics

Evelyn Brown

A new method to systematically modify the structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes could expand their electronic properties and open the path to nano-electronics.

Carbon cylinders a few billionths of a meter in diameter and a few microns long, these nanotubes are one of the strongest structures known and have unique electrical and thermal properties.

This promising method to add defects to carbon nanotube walls was developed by Argonne researchers who are interested in improving the materials for thermoelectric power generation, the use of heat differences to generate electricity. Thermoelectric conversion is the principle behind thermocouples, thermal diodes and solid-state refrigerators.

“If you change the electronic structure,” said Argonne chemist Larry Curtiss (MSD), “by adding defects in an ordered way, theoretically you can make more efficient thermoelectric materials. So we could produce electricity more efficiently from solar, nuclear or any thermal power generation.” Curtiss is group leader of the Molecular Materials Group in Argonne's Materials Science Division.

Creating defects by adding molecules to nanotubes is challenging because of their extremely small size. Researchers are seeking a controlled, reproducible method. So the Argonne team, which includes Curtiss, Michael Sternberg, Peter Zapol, Dieter Gruen, Gary Kedziora, David Horner (all MSD) and Paul Redfern (CHM), used computer simulation tools to learn how to add a single carbon dimer — a molecule of two bonded carbons — to a single-walled carbon nanotube.

The single-walled nanotubes — believed to be the best candidates for next step of miniaturizing modern electronics — resemble a long tube of chain-link fence made of hexagons. The Argonne team simulated a variety of approaches to attach the carbon dimer to the nanotube. They found the easiest and strongest method was to insert a carbon dimer horizontally into two hexagonal bonds, creating two adjacent pentagons and heptagons (seven-sided structures) in the chain link.

After they understood how to add one dimer, the researchers began to add dimers in patterns.

“The interesting thing was going into the multiple patterns,” Curtiss said. “We started building up patterns using the dimers like building blocks and adding them to the tubes.” The researchers found a number of interesting modifications.

“The structures we simulated,” said physicist Zapol, “have new and unexpected features. They modify the electronic properties in the nanotubes, and that will be useful in future electronic applications.”

Guided by the simulations, Argonne materials scientists, led by Gruen and his expertise in carbon nanomaterials, are creating materials for testing.

The zipper structure particularly appeals to Argonne researchers because the atomic spacings in the openings are just the right size to bond nanotubes to Ultrananocrystalline™ diamond and combine the properties of both.

Ultrananocrystalline diamond is a novel form of nanocarbon developed by Argonne that has many of the properties of diamond — the hardest known material on earth — and can be deposited on a variety of surfaces. Unlike diamond, its properties can be optimized depending on the application.

Researchers plan to use the carbon nanotubes as a scaffolding to attach other molecules and study their functions. They will also connect the tubes into arrays and study the effects.

This research was funded by DOE's Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences' Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering.

Argonne researcher wins prestigious Presidential award

Eva Sylwester

Computational Scientist Todd Munson (MCS) has been honored with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

These awards are the highest honor the U.S. government bestows on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. This year, 56 researchers supported by nine federal departments and agencies received awards. Munson is one of seven recipients affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy. The winners each received a citation, a plaque and a commitment for continued funding of their work from their agency for five years.

“All of us here at the Energy Department are very pleased that these individuals are being recognized by the president for the intellectual rigor, relevance and high technical standards of their work,” said Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman. “We are proud to honor these seven awardees as a means of encouraging promising young scientists and engineers to pursue work in areas of importance to the Department of Energy's energy research and national security missions.”

“The federal government's continued support to these young scientists shows the high regard in which their work is held,” said Argonne Director Robert Rosner. “I'm proud that, once again, Argonne science is recognized in this way. I congratulate Todd on this success and look forward to his great work in the years to come.”

Munson is a member of Argonne 's Mathematics and Computer Science Division, where he has made significant contributions in the areas of large-scale continuous optimization and nonlinear complementarity problems. These problems represent situations where maximizing a desired goal must be done with regard to other constraints; an example would be designing reloading operations for nuclear reactors that give the highest power output possible while still observing appropriate safety measures.

Munson is a lead developer of PATH, the most widely used code for solving complementarity problems; the Network Enabled Optimization System (NEOS), a collaboration between Argonne and Northwestern University that provides access to optimization packages through a variety of Internet interfaces; and the Toolkit for Advanced Optimization (TAO), an open source collection of parallel algorithms for solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems.

Munson has mentored graduate and undergraduate students through the DOE/NSF Faculty and Student Team Program and Argonne's Summer Student Program; has served on the organizing committee for the Argonne-University of Chicago Institute on Computational Economics and given tutorials on numerical optimization to the workshop participants; and has acted as a moderator and scientific judge for the Chicago Regional Middle School Science Bowl.

Physics symposium to mark Schiffer's 50th year of research

“Nuclear Physics, the Core of Matter, the Fuel of Stars,” a symposium surveying the future of nuclear physics and celebrating 50 years of John Schiffer's research, will be held at Argonne Sept. 21-22.

Speakers will include Gordon Cates, University of Virginia; Osvaldo Civitarese, University of La Plata; Stuart Freedman, University of California at Berkeley; Jeffrey Hangst, University of Aarhus; Walter Henning, GSI; Franco Iachello, Yale University; Dennis Kovar, Department of Energy; Augusto Macchiavelli, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Ben Mottelson, NORDITA; Takaharu Otsuka, University of Tokyo; John Schiffer, Argonne; Michael Turner, University of Chicago; and William A. Zajc, Columbia University.

The symposium will include a welcoming reception Wednesday evening, Sept. 20, (Building 460), and an evening banquet Thursday, Sept. 21, both at the Argonne Guest House Registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 7; registration forms are available on the symposium Web site. For other information, send an e-mail to NPSymposium@anl.gov.

Schiffer is a senior physicist in Argonne 's Physics Division and professor emeritus in The University of Chicago's Enrico Fermi Institute. His research interests are experimental and nuclear physics, including the search for simple symmetries in nuclear structure using heavy-ion reactions, and understanding dynamics of interactions between nuclear systems. He has also conducted studies of crystalline order, phase transitions, and degrees of freedom in confined ionic systems in ion beams and ion traps. His work has also included the search for exotic objects in nature and the measurement of nuclear properties important in the processes of nucleosynthesis — the process by which heavy elements are created in stars, novae and supernovae. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1954.

Wang honored for ‘Environmental Excellence in Transportation'

Mary Fitzpatrick

Michael Wang was honored as the runner-up in the “New Methods and Tools” category of the prestigious Society of Automotive Engineers' (SAE's) International Environmental Excellence in Transportation (E2T) Awards. The awards, established in 2000, recognize individuals who contribute significant innovations — in education, new methods and tools, energy and emissions, recycling and remanufacturing, process innovations, materials development, and noise management — to reduce the environmental impact caused by the transportation industry. The awards were presented during the SAE Government/Industry Meeting in Washington D.C. in May.

Wang, of Argonne's Center for Transportation Research, received the award for his development of Argonne's GREET software tool, which is used to evaluate the energy and emission impacts of advanced vehicle technologies and new fuels. Since its release, GREET has become a familiar and respected analytical tool, with more than 3,000 registered users worldwide among governmental agencies, automotive companies, energy companies, universities and research institutions, and non-governmental organizations.

Wang credits his colleagues in the Center for Transportation Research and the users of the software with its success. “We are continually updating and improving GREET based on the input of those who use it — making it easier to use, more comprehensive and more reflective of real-world conditions. I'm grateful that SAE and others believe we had been successful in that endeavor.”

Reporting safety, quality issues: the right thing to do

Bob McCook, EQO Director

Why is it important for laboratory personnel to report all safety, quality assurance and other issues or deficiencies? Why should an organization report on and make public its mistakes or weaknesses? What benefit is there to self-identifying and self-reporting issues that are noncompliant to the requirements?

The most important reason is protection of the worker, the public and the environment. The worker means you, the public means your family, and the environment means where you and your family live.

The question could be asked, “How does reporting an event or issue that has already occurred protect the worker and the public?” Reporting ensures that these issues and their underlying causes are given the proper attention and the appropriate level of investigation and review. These investigations can identify weakness in our programs, processes and procedures. Corrective actions will help to ensure that they don't recur. Corrective actions can be tracked, and if issues do recur, an evaluation can determine why the corrective actions failed. Preventing recurrences means a safer workplace for everyone.

Reporting also plays a part in the quality improvement process. Events and significant issues have considerable costs associated with them, and in an environment of shrinking budgets and resources, we must do more with less. Events can injure or even kill; the loss of, or harm to, employees cannot be calculated simply in terms of dollars and cents or productivity. Losses of equipment and data, however, can be measured. There are also costs associated with the investigations (critiques and causal analyses) and costs related to the corrective actions. DOE will often mandate actions or schedules for corrective actions, forcing responses and use of resources without the ability to control direction and results.

Analyzing the causes of events shows almost all of them can be prevented. Among those that can't, severity can be lessened by the proper application of requirements.

Review activities such as management assessments, independent assessments and surveillance are the primary methods for self-identifying issues. Issues found in assessments are typically not as severe as those stemming from events, but they can be equally important even if corrected on the spot. Issues found as a result of review activities can identify precursors to events. Appropriately recognizing the meaning of the precursors and addressing them accordingly can do a great deal to prevent the more serious event and demonstrates an organizational culture of quality improvement.

Reporting allows the laboratory to review whether the issue exists in other areas and is essential for “extent of condition” reviews. Extent of condition is the potential or actual applicability of an event or condition to exist in other activities, projects, programs, facilities or organizations.

Additionally, identifying and correcting issues provides an opportunity to develop “lessons learned” to prevent the issue from occurring in other areas of the laboratory or in the DOE complex as a whole.

Development of a compliance-based culture is only the start. The next step is when line management appreciates the importance of a safety culture. We comply with safety and quality requirements because it is the right thing to do, not just to avoid regulatory violations. Managers must know and understand that they are personally responsible for the safety of their employees. They must define and communicate expectations, engage employees in a free and open dialogue, and promote a culture where the workers know their feedback is heard and appreciated. They must be ever-vigilant in preventing mixed messages that pit safety against costs and schedules. Change comes from within; we must focus our attention on developing the habits or behaviors that will promote a learning culture committed to safety and safety improvements.

Argonne Director Robert Rosner thanks Argonne inventors

Fifty-eight Argonne employees reported new inventions to the laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy during the first half of fiscal year 2006.

Both DOE and the laboratory review each reported invention to determine if it should be patented to protect the interests of DOE and Argonne . Patenting an invention can be an essential tool for achieving the commercialization of Argonne-developed technology, creating new industries and jobs, returning licensing royalties to the laboratory for additional research and fulfilling Argonne 's technology-transfer mission. DOE also patents laboratory inventions to protect its research investment in government-funded technology and to license laboratory-developed technologies for commercial development, improving U.S competitiveness.

“Reporting inventions is an important obligation of each employee,” said Argonne Director Robert Rosner. “Congratulations, and thanks, go to all the enterprising Argonne inventors who reported new laboratory inventions in the first half of fiscal year 2006.”

Argonne inventions can be reported online at www.anl.gov/invent/.

Inventors reporting Argonne inventions to DOE in the first half of fiscal year 2006 were Rajesh Ahluwalia, Oyelayo Ajayi, Khalil Amine, Igor Aronson, Samuel Bader, Sasan Bakhtiari, Ilias Belharouak, Alexandre Bouhelier, Boris Chernov, Seok-Hwan Chung, Roger Cole, Edward Daniels, Rocio Diaz, Mark Dietz, Jeffrey Elam, Thomas Elmer, George Fenske, Rex Gerald II, Julia Golova, Nachappa Gopalsami, Kenneth Gray, Jeffery Hall, Jeffrey Hershberger, Axel Hoffmann, Bassam Jody, Raymond Klann, Alexie Koshelev, Wai-Kwong Kwok, John Lewellen, Yuelin Li, Di-Jia Liu, Jun Liu, Douglas Longman, Ramkumar Natarajan, John Noonan, Young Soo Park, Michael Pellin, Alexander Perov, Roger Poeppel, Joseph Pomykala, Iouri Prokofiev, Apostolos Raptis, Sergey Sharamentov, Terry Smith, Robert Smither, Oleksiy Snezhko, Andrey Sokolov, Jeffrey Spangenberger, Fred Stevens, Jiangang Sun, Richard Vilim, Vitalii Vlasko-Vlasov, Arun Wagh, Geoff Waldschmidt, Xiaohua Wang, Ulrich Welp, Gary Wiederrecht and Thomas Wiencek.

Service Awards

Service Awards for July include:

50 Years

Robert K. Smither (XSD)

35 Years

Robert C. Schmitt (ET)

30 Years

Lawrence J. Condon (PFS), James J. Gleason (NOD), Janine A. Griffin (MCS), Debra J. Melvin (OCF), Rita M. Niesluchowski (OCF), Arthur J. Schultz (IPNS)

25 Years

Ken Lerner (DIS)

20 Years

Myrna L. Czajkowski (AES), Julius Jellinek (CHM), Margaret R. Kowalski (NE), Stephen R. Magill (HEP)

15 Years

Guenter Conzelmann (DIS), Cynthia L. Doran (XSD), Donna J. Holdridge (EVS), Allison B. Stoops (HR), Jeffrey Toeller (IPNS)

10 Years

William A. Brocker (EQO), Jeanne Cowan (XSD), Jeffrey C. Dooling (IPNS), Thomas H. Fanning (NE), Reginald L. Gilmore (AES) Kenneth M. Kemner (BIO), John Mitchell (MSD), Raymond Monroe (AES), Russell L. Otto (AES), Michael Papka (MCS), Tijana Rajh (CHM), Dmitriy A. Ronzhin (ASD)

5 Years

Bonnie M. Basiorka (OCF), Christopher A. Coglianese (CIS), Keith S. Hardy (ES), Axel F. Hoffmann (MSD), Robert L. Jacob (MCS), Bernd C. Kabius (MSD), Youngchang Kim (BIO), Edward J. O'Loughlin (BIO), Vivian S. Sullivan (CMT), Ike U. Therios (NE), Cheryl A. Walker (PFS), Lawrence E. Wall (CHM), Patricia B. Weikersheimer (TSD)

Chief's alligator chili wins prize

Argonne's fire department took first place for best chili in the Firefighter Cook-Off at Sertoma Centre, Inc.'s BIG Event 2006 at the Tinley Park Convention Center , besting recipes from seven other local fire departments.

Argonne Fire Chief Gordon Veerman said this is the third year he has participated in the contest. The first year, he brought Green Chili, but the judges were afraid to eat it because they thought it would be too spicy. The next year, he adjusted the recipe a little bit to Southwest Trail Chili, which took first place. This year, after slightly more adjusting, the recipe became Amazon Chili. One of the new additions is alligator meat, which Veerman buys at Czimer's Game & Sea Foods, Inc. in Homer Glen. At this point, Veerman said he's satisfied with the recipe, so he probably will not enter the contest again next year.

Proceeds from the contest supported Sertoma Centre, Inc., a community service organization that helps people with disabilities.

Amazon Chili

3 lbs. ground alligator meat

(ground beef may be substituted)

2 large sweet onions, chopped

12 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. instant coffee

6 medium potatoes, cut in ½ inch cubes

10 carrots, cut in ½ inch pieces

2 26-oz. cans chopped green chiles

1 30-oz. can pinto beans

1 30-oz. can kidney beans

1 30-oz. can butter beans

10 beef bouillon cubes

1 c. dry barley

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. celery salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Enough water to cook.

Instructions:

1. Brown meat.

2. Add all remaining ingredients into large soup pot.

3. Bring to boil, and then reduce heat. Cover and cook for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bill Toter: Pressure Safety Committee chair

Bill Toter, who chairs Argonne 's Pressure Technology and Safety Committee, has been a welding engineer in the laboratory's Central Shops for 14 years. He works on fabricating metal products for research labs and scientists on site. Some of the more interesting projects he's worked on over the years are superconducting niobium resonators for ATLAS and the storage chamber and beam positioning monitors for the Advanced Photon Source. He has a master's degree in materials science.

Toter has been a hockey fan since his childhood in Detroit and currently coaches youth hockey outside work. All six of his children have also played hockey. In 2005 he coached the New Trier Women's High School Hockey Club to a state championship. He is involved with Christian Hockey Camps International, which puts on a camp for youth at Wheaton College every summer.

The Pressure Technology and Safety Committee, which made a presentation regarding its work to the Director's Safety Council on July 6, assists the laboratory in understanding and following DOE's pressure safety requirements. Some of the systems it oversees include liquid nitrogen cooling systems, very large vacuum systems and high-pressure experiments. The committee is also involved with the procurement and installation of pressure systems.

Illinois students win national fuel cell contest

Eva Sylwester

The winners of the Chicago Regional Science Bowl, which was sponsored in part by Argonne this April, went on to take first place in the hydrogen fuel cell model car contest at the National Middle School Science Bowl in Denver in June.

The five team members all recently completed seventh grade at Daniel Wright Middle School in Lincolnshire . They also won third place in the academic question-and-answer portion of the national competition, which was sponsored by General Motors and DOE.

A fuel cell produces electricity while converting hydrogen and oxygen into water. In both the regional and national competitions, each team was required to use a provided reversible fuel cell for its model car, but the design of other components — such as the chassis, gears, wheels, axles and gas collection and storage tank — was up to the students. The first car to complete a 10-meter race won the competition.

“It's a really good competition for the kids,” said Lou Harnisch (DEP), who helps organize the contest, which initially focused on solar cars when it began in the late 1980s. “They applied their skills to meet challenges with the cars that are comparable to those that scientists and engineers face with authentic research.”