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"A Brief History of Materials R&D at Argonne."

Argonne History

New Materials for Future Energy: A National Center

Argonne developed the first monolithic fuel cell. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Argonne's preeminence in determining material performance and reliability, critical to developing new energy systems, is based on a tradition of excellence that dates back to Met Lab days. Materials research began with the need to know the physical and chemical properties of fuels and structural materials -- graphite, uranium, plutonium -- used in operating early reactors.

After the second world war, Argonne was the first laboratory devoted to civilian use of nuclear energy. During the energy crises of the 1970s, its programs were expanded to include alternate energy sources. By developing new materials and modifying existing ones, materials research provides superior mechanical, electrical, thermal, nuclear, corrosion and wear properties. For example, Argonne's 1967 discovery of radiation-induced voids in metals was an important factor in the design of fast breeder reactor cores. By the mid-1980s, in addition to focusing on work in fission and fusion, there was also a commitment to exploring new ways to deliver efficient energy -- tribology, aqueous corrosion, amorphous alloys, superconductors and ceramics.

Conducting Superconductivity Research

Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim demonstrates high-temperature superconductivity to President Ronald Reagan at a 1987 superconductor applications meeting. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Superconductivity, the conduction of electricity virtually without resistance, was discovered in 1911. It was limited, however, because the phenomenon could only be achieved at extremely cold temperatures. The field was revolutionized in 1986 when two Swiss researchers developed compounds that were superconducting at high temperatures. This Nobel Prize-winning work spurred Argonne scientists to ever more inventiveness. Argonne's superconductivity research was aided by the ability to quickly study new materials at the lab's Intense Pulsed Neutron Source and to suggest modifications in synthesis. In 1987, Argonne scientists made the first electric motor, the Meissner motor, based on high-temperature superconducting properties. That same year, the laboratory was named a national center for the study of high-temperature superconductivity applications.

A coil of superconducting tape loses all resistance to electricity when cooled by liquid nitrogen. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

In the four years following the 1986 discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, Argonne scientists reported 18 superconducting inventions, including determination of the precise position of oxygen atoms in high-temperature superconducting ceramics, production of high-temperature superconducting bearings, and extrusion of wire from high-temperature superconducting materials -- the first laboratory in the nation to do so. They later grew single crystals of the material and discovered that current is carried primarily through chains of copper and oxygen in the crystals. In 1990, Argonne chemists surpassed their own world's record for the highest transition temperature for an organic superconductor. The following year, scientists from Argonne and Northwestern University discovered a new family of high-temperature superconductors made of a compound of oxygen, copper, gallium, strontium and yttrium.

Superconductors are tested by Bogdan Dabrowski in a high-pressure synthesis chamber. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Argonne's designation as one of three Superconducting Pilot Centers in the country attracted the interest and participation of private industry. More benchmark successes were achieved. A private superconductivity company, Illinois Superconductor Corp., was founded in 1990. It was the first superconductivity company to be formed as part of a joint cooperative program among state and federal government, private industry and academia. It had the first high-temperature superconducting commercial product on the market -- a liquid nitrogen depth sensor used in hospital equipment.

Balu Balachandran stretches a silver-clad, high-temperature-superconductor wire. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

In 1990, Argonne and Westinghouse Science and Technology Center developed an electrical lead that achieved a world record for current carried by a practical high-temperature superconductor device. Three years later, ComEd and Argonne developed the world's most efficient super-conducting magnetic bearing. It could revolutionize the way electricity is stored and how it is supplied to consumers. Teamwork between scientists from Argonne and Intermagnetics General Corp. produced the strongest magnetic field ever generated by a coil of high-temperature superconducting wire -- an important innovation for motors and generators. In January 1994, they would set an even stronger record.

Tools to Create New Materials

The development of fuels and structural materials for nuclear reactors was facilitated by Argonne irradiation facilities such as Chicago Pile 5 and Experimental Breeder Reactor II. Irradiated materials continue to be examined in the Alpha Gamma Hot Cell Facility.

An aerial view of Chicago Pile 5. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Significant expansion in materials research was made possible by Argonne's Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS). The IPNS, based on a proton accelerator rather than on a reactor, allows scientists to study atomic and molecular structure, dynamics of solids and liquids, and materials under various environments.

Argonne's High Voltage Electron Microscope-Tandem Accelerator, dedicated in 1981, permits researchers to study real-time structural changes in materials subjected to ionic bombardment with a resolution close to the atomic level. The special microscope produces radiation damage by bombarding materials with particles from a 300-kilovolt or two-million-volt particle accelerator. This allows study of radiation damage and deformation that may lead to new materials for nuclear reactors and energy storage and transfer. It is the only research facility in the world that lets scientists "watch" the effect of radiation damage to materials as it occurs.

New Materials Research

X-ray diffractometry studies show how materials change with temperature. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Benchmark work by Argonne scientists produced many breakthroughs in materials research. For example, they discovered one-third of all organic superconducting materials. Materials with record-breaking magnetoresistive effects in metallic layered materials were unknown until Argonne researchers found them. Other discoveries include

• Radiation-induced segregation as an important microstructural process in metals.
• Alloys for thermonuclear fusion reactor applications that limit erosion, provide self-sustaining protective coating to minimize energy loss, and inhibit transfer of impurities.
• Uranium silicide fuels for research and test reactors which require only low-enrichment and are therefore proliferation-resistant.
• Synthesis of new organic superconducting materials and structure-property relationships; record high superconducting transition temperatures for these materials were also established.
• New ceramic compounds for high-energy-density fuel cells, and for oxygen-permeable membranes used in converting methane to liquid fuels.
• New solid lubricants based on boric acid compounds.
• Synthesis of high-quality nanocrystalline diamond film that is exceptionally smooth and has superior tribological properties.

Nanophase materials have extraordinary tribological properties. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Among other major accomplishments, Argonne scientists were able to determine the mechanisms of irradiation-induced swelling of materials; predict the behavior of fuel elements in reactor cores; investigate and clarify the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism in single crystals; develop inelastic neutron scattering techniques to provide unique information on dynamics of solids and liquids; determine the structural, thermodynamics and phase relationships of many transuranium compounds; elucidate the depth of origin of sputtered atoms and the mechanisms of sputtered cluster emission (this was important for applications in many fields including geochemistry, cosmochemistry, and the superconducting industry). Also developed was neutron radiography and other nondestructive testing techniques that are used throughout the world.

Energy for the Future

By the 1980s, Argonne's mission in energy-related research was broadened to include fossil fuels, fusion, solar energy and energy storage systems. For example, work on molten salt and liquid metal chemistry led to the development of the LiAl-FeS battery.

Another example is "solar-cell-on-a-roll" technology that incorporates photo-active molecules developed at Argonne with electrically conductive stretched film.

In 1991, the Department of Energy authorized a Proton-Exchange Membrane fuel cell program to develop the technology for energy-efficient electric vehicles. Argonne is responsible for its technical management.

The rechargeable bipolar lithium-metal sulfide battery is being developed for electric cars. (Click the image to see a larger photo.)

Electrochemical materials research included development of improved cell chemistry, in situ electrochemical overcharge tolerance, and metal-to-ceramic seal technologies that led to the successful demonstration of a rechargeable bipolar lithium/metal sulfide battery. This technology enhanced the power and energy densities of long-life batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles--allowing them to last up to 100,000 miles and run 250 miles before recharging.

Argonne scientists also directed the development of a phosphoric-acid fuel cell propulsion system which led to the first successful demonstration of a methanol-fueled urban bus.

The laboratory's work on fuel cell technology could make electric cars a common sight on the street scene. Much more efficient and less polluting than current automobiles, the fuel cells produce electricity, and they never need recharging. Argonne has developed a device that may enhance the performance of the fuel cell -- an on-board methanol reformer that is small enough to fit under a car's hood along with the fuel cell.