Argonne National Laboratory

Feature Stories

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This shows a strand of magnetic molecules atop a dense bed of “armchair” graphene nanoribbons — which appear as a series of closely spaced strings — grown on a gold crystal surface. The image was taken on a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy tool at Argonne’s <a href="http://www.anl.gov/cnm/user-information/call-proposals">Center for Nanoscale Materials</a>. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
 Opening windows for new spintronic studies

A surprising discovery could potentially offer major advantages in speed, heat dissipation and power consumption in electronic devices.

 February 22, 2018
Reigning champions Daniel Wright Junior High School won the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2018 Illinois Regional Middle School Science Bowl in January. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
 Regional competition tests knowledge and inspires the next generation to reach towards their future

Thirteen middle school teams faced off at Oswego East High School for the 28th annual Department of Energy Regional Science Bowl in January.

 February 9, 2018
The number of lithium-ion batteries has skyrocketed. But what will happen to them after they die? Argonne’s ReCell model examines how much money and energy could be saved if we recycle these batteries. (Image by Shutterstock/Romaset.)
 Closing the loop on battery recycling

Argonne’s closed-loop battery recycling model shows a vivid picture of total costs as well as environmental impacts.

 January 25, 2018
Two students at Chicago’s Wadsworth Elementary school learn coding basics from Argonne’s Charlotte Haley (not pictured) as part of the worldwide Hour of Code in December 2017. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
 Power hour

Argonne’s Education department partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Chicago and sent 50 scientists to Chicago area schools in December as part of the global Hour of Code.

 January 15, 2018
Argonne scientists are using extremely powerful x-rays to understand the physics of the 3-D printing process. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
 Printing on patrol

What if our military could dramatically reduce the amount of materials and equipment held on the front lines by printing only what they need? Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are aiming to do this with new advances in 3-D printing.

 January 15, 2018
Summer interns Cayla Hamann (background) and Cheng Chang (foreground) help install a water sensor on the UChicago campus. (Image courtesy of The University of Chicago/ Xufeng Zhang.)
 IME scientists dig deep in soil for data to improve agriculture, pollution

Soil is incredibly complex — full of organisms, microbes and chemicals that move and change constantly — and it all feeds into crop health and the Earth’s nutrient cycles in ways that aren’t fully understood. Recent advances in wireless data communications and the growing revolution of portable, cheap sensors have made it possible for scientists, including Profs. Monisha Ghosh and Supratik Guha, to start a pilot program to take real-time soil measurements.

 January 12, 2018
Argonne’s Michael Kaminski has developed his own system of interchangeable equipment, tools and materials that decontaminates urban areas faster than other approaches. (Image courtesy of Shutterstock, Bell nipon.)
 New Argonne decontamination system improves safety and eases complexity

Argonne researchers have created a new technique that decontaminates urban areas faster than any other approach. The technology is simple and uses widely available materials and tools to clean and isolate radioactivity quickly, helping to restore basic services and reduce the radiation exposure of emergency personnel.

 January 4, 2018
Four of the Department of Energy’s ‘Top 40’ research milestones since 1977 involved Argonne scientists. (Image courtesy of Claire Ballweg/Department of Energy and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.)
 Reaching the Department of Energy’s ‘Top 40’

The U.S. Department of Energy honors Argonne researchers in top 40 research-paper countdown.

 January 3, 2018
Oleo Sponge picks up oil during tests at Argonne. (Image by Mark Lopez/Argonne National Laboratory.)
 Nine ways Argonne advanced science and technology in 2017

As 2018 approaches, Argonne looks back at nine cool stories that came out of research projects and collaborations at the laboratory.

 December 21, 2017
The figure in the foreground shows near-infrared and broadband light pulses (squiggly lines at top) striking a silver nanocube measuring 150 nanometers square. The near-infrared pulse excites electrons in the nanostructure, while the broadband pulse monitors their optical response. An aluminum oxide spacer separates the nanocube from a gold film with a thickness of 50 nanometers. The spacer measures between 1 and 25 nanometers thick. A water molecule, by comparison, is approximately 1.5 nanometers in diameter. (Image courtesy of Matthew Sykes, Argonne National Laboratory, Shutterstock / Triff and Shutterstock / siro46.)
 ‘Hot’ electrons heat up solar energy research

Argonne research has shown how hybrid nanomaterials may be used to convert light energy more efficiently for applications in photocatalysis, photovoltaics and ultrafast optics.

 December 20, 2017
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