Press Releases

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A false-color image of a microelectromechanical device. The diamond-based actuator is colored gold. Click to enlarge. Image credit: Ani Sumant.
 Thin diamond films provide new material for micro-machines

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and a handful of other institutions around the world have directed their focus to exploring microelectromechanical systems made of a relatively new material known as ultrananocrystalline diamond, which is a smooth and wear-resistant diamond thin film.

 July 31, 2014
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point chemistry professor Michael Zach (left) and Argonne nanoscientist Ani Sumant pose with their R&D 100 award-winning “NanoFab lab…in a box!” Click to enlarge. Photo credit: Mark Lopez.
 Argonne wins three R&D 100 awards

Argonne wins three 2014 R&D 100 awards.

 July 11, 2014
A new study by Argonne and Northwestern scientists reported that solar panels manufactured in China are likely to use more energy to make and have a larger carbon footprint than those made in Europe. Image by Renee Carlson / Argonne National Laboratory. Click to enlarge.
 Solar panel manufacturing is greener in Europe than China, study says

Solar panels made in China have a higher overall carbon footprint and are likely to use substantially more energy during manufacturing than those made in Europe, said a new study from Northwestern University and Argonne.

 May 29, 2014
Argonne materials scientists Seungbum Hong (left) and Andreas Roelofs adjust an atomic force microscope. Click to enlarge. Photo credit: Wes Agresta/Argonne National Laboratory.
 Microscopy charges ahead

In order to see the true polarization states of ferroelectric materials quickly and efficiently, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new technique called charge gradient microscopy.

 May 28, 2014
Scientists from Argonne created the world’s thinnest flexible, transparent thin-film transistor, which could one day be useful in making a truly flexible display screen for TVs or phones. From left: Andreas Roelofs, Anirudha Sumant, and Richard Gulotty; in foreground, Saptarshi Das. Photo by Mark Lopez/Argonne National Laboratory. Click to enlarge.
 Flexible, transparent thin film transistors raise hopes for flexible screens

The electronics world has been dreaming for half a century of the day you can roll a TV up in a tube. But scientists got one step closer last month when researchers at Argonne reported the creation of the world’s thinnest flexible, see-through 2-D thin film transistors.

 May 23, 2014
Argonne scientists in collaboration with researchers from Arizona State University have found a way to imitate Photosystem II, the first protein complex in the long chain of reactions that use energy from the sun to create usable fuel. Click to enlarge.
 Photosynthesis, reimagined

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with researchers from Arizona State University have found a way to imitate Photosystem II, the first protein complex in the long chain of reactions that use energy from the sun to create usable fuel.

 March 27, 2014
Atomic carbon (black spheres) is evaporated at over 2,300 degrees Celcius and deposited on a silver platform where flakes of graphene form. Lighter-colored regions correspond to graphene growth and silver is depicted in the darker regions. Click to enlarge.
 Silver linings: Argonne scientists are first to grow graphene on silver

Researchers discover a new method to growing graphene on silver opening the door to new physics and device applications.

 February 24, 2014
Typically, the process of corrosion has been studied from the metal side of the equation. Click to enlarge.
 The core of corrosion

Most times, the effects of corrosion are studied with regard to the metal surface. In a new study, researchers looked at the effects that corrosion has on the water and dissolved ions doing the corroding.

 February 14, 2014
Argonne materials scientists announced a new technique to grow these little forests at the microscale (the scale shows 100 micrometers, which is about the diameter of a single human hair). Image by Arnaud Demortière, Alexey Snezhko and Igor Aronson. Click to enlarge.
 Good hair day: New technique grows tiny 'hairy' materials at the microscale

Scientists at Argonne attacked a tangled problem by developing a new technique to grow tiny “hairy” materials that assemble themselves at the microscale.

 January 31, 2014
Most simple solar cells handle the bluish hues of the electromagnetic spectrum inefficiently. This is because blue photons — incoming particles of light that strike the solar cell — actually have excess energy that a conventional solar cell can’t capture. Click to enlarge.
 New solar cell technology captures high-energy photons more efficiently

Scientists at Argonne and the University of Texas at Austin have together developed a new, inexpensive material that has the potential to capture and convert solar energy — particularly from the bluer part of the spectrum — much more efficiently than ever before.

 January 23, 2014
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