In a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Delaware, chemists have been able to look at the interface between water and muscovite mica, a flat mineral commonly found in granite, soils and many sediments. In particular, the researchers looked at the capture and release of rubidium – a metal closely related to but more easily singled out than common elements like potassium and sodium.

Argonne researchers have identified a nickel oxide compound as an unconventional but promising candidate material for high-temperature superconductivity. The project combined crystal growth, X-ray spectroscopy and computational theory.

Research done at Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source was vital to the process of identifying the structure, which provides a guide for designing a Lassa virus vaccine. Lassa virus is endemic to Africa and kills thousands of people a year; it is particularly deadly for pregnant women.

With the most highly focused power of the world’s most powerful X-ray laser, scientists from a number of institutions around the world – including Argonne National Laboratory – have conducted a new experiment that takes apart molecules electron by electron.