Argonne holds cornerstone ceremony at new Center for Nanoscale Materials

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 6, 2005) — More efficient energy transmission and implantable devices that automatically sense drug levels and administer drugs are just two examples of the benefits of research that may result from work at the new Center for Nanoscale Materials, under construction at the U.S Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.

A ceremony today laid the cornerstone for the center, to be open in 2007.

Among the dignitaries participating in the dedication ceremony were U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel L. Bodman, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert and Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Director of DOE's Office of Science.

"This nanoscience center will be a national asset that will help define the future of science and technology for all of us," Secretary Bodman said. "We fully expect the fields of energy, medicine, information technology and homeland security to be touched – if not transformed – by the work that will take place here. That is why we are making such a substantial investment, both in facilities such as this and in nanoscale research in general."

Governor Blagojevich stressed the importance of the DOE and state of Illinois partnership in basic research at the nanoscale with strong potential for industrial and commercial applications. "This facility will provide the foundation of fundamental science," he said. "The steps taken here will lead to revolutionary applications such as nanosize probes to target disease cell by cell, powerful solar cells and other applications we can't even imagine today."

"Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers, which represent the DOE Office of Science's singular contribution to the National Nanotechnology Initiative," said Dr. Orbach. "When constructed, these centers will provide U.S. researchers with opportunities unmatched anywhere else in the world."

The nanoscale refers to a size one-billionth of a meter, or about 70,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Materials that small exhibit entirely different properties from conventional materials. Specifically, temperature, electricity and magnetism are completely different from that of conventional materials, and could form the basis of new technologies.

The Center for Nanoscale Materials is a partnership between the Department of Energy and the State of Illinois as part of DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Center program.

The center's mission will support basic research and the development of advanced instrumentation to create novel materials that provide new insights at the nanoscale level. The existence of the center, with its centralized facilities, controlled environments, technical support and scientific staff, will enable researchers to excel and significantly extend their reach, according to Eric Isaacs, director of Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials.

"It is hard to imagine an industry that will not be impacted by nanoscience," Isaacs said." We must first learn to synthesize the nanosized building blocks and then assemble them into something useful, or something we care about such as massively parallel memory chips or advanced solar cells."

Researchers will work at the leading edge of science and technology to develop capabilities and knowledge that complement those of industry. The challenges involve fabricating and exploring novel nanoscale materials and, ultimately, employing unique synthesis and characterization methods to control and tailor nanoscale phenomena. The unique capabilities of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne play a key role. The hard X-rays produced at the Advanced Photon Source, the most brilliant in the Western Hemisphere, will be harnessed in a nanoprobe beamline to provide unprecedented capabilities to characterize extremely small structures. That understanding will help researchers build, atom by atom, new materials with desired properties.

Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials will complement the other DOE Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Centers. These facilities will greatly enhance scientists' ability to investigate the properties of materials at nanoscale dimensions. The Center for Nanoscale Materials is projected to cost $72 million and occupy 85,000 square feet. It will attract hundreds of researchers and scientists per year to Argonne.

Argonne National Laboratory brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.