Perfecting Catalytic Arrays

August 13, 2009

Catalysts speed up chemical reactions and remain largely unchanged themselves at the end of the process. This apparently simple statement harbors a chemical secret: Catalysts are much more complicated than that. Work carried out at the Argonne Advanced Photon Source, Center for Nanoscale Materials, and Electron Microscopy Center for Materials Research could improve our understanding of at least one class of industrially important catalyst: metal nanoparticle catalysts.

A Stable Open Framework with Wide Open Spaces

August 11, 2009

Porous materials frameworks with open structures are potentially useful for a wide range of applications, such as gas storage, catalysis, and drug delivery. One such class is metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). But the more porous these frameworks are, the more fragile they tend to become. Researchers using the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne have made a MOF that is remarkably open but also stable. This new synthetic strategy may serve as a general approach toward stable MOFs with even higher surface areas, eventually leading to even greater practical applications.

Pumping Through the Middle Crust

July 29, 2009

A team of geologists and geophysicists using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source has shed light on a fluid transfer in the middle continental crust, a phenomenon that was formerly poorly understood. Their work could lead to a fuller understanding of fluid migration through rock, with possible wide application in deciphering important geological processes including earthquakes.

Using High-Pressure “Alchemy” to Create Nonexpanding Metals

June 17, 2009

By squeezing a metal alloy at pressures hundreds of thousands of times greater than normal atmospheric pressure, researchers using x-rays at two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories have created a material that does not expand when heated and acts like a metal with an entirely different chemical composition. The discovery offers insights about the exotic behavior of materials under high pressures, which represent some 90% of the matter in our solar system.

Looking for Ways to Improve Vaccines Against the Deadly Rotavirus

June 16, 2009

The first detailed molecular snapshots of a deadly gastrointestinal virus caught in the grasp of an immune system molecule with the capacity to inactivate it could help scientists design a more effective vaccine against rotavirus, which kills more than 500,000 children worldwide each year. The discovery was made by researchers using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

A “Colossal” Magnetic Effect under Pressure

June 12, 2009

“Giant” and “colossal” aren’t the words that come to mind when thinking about MP3 players or laptops. But we can store and access ever-increasing amounts of data on ever-smaller devices because of giant magnetoresistance. Now researchers using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory are delving into the forces colossal magnetoresistance, which is up to a thousand times more powerful than GMR and could trigger another revolution in computing technology.

Using High Pressure to Reveal Quantum Criticality in an Elemental Antiferromagnet

May 21, 2009

New research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source is a milestone in the study of emergent magnetism and quantum criticality. It opens new possibilities for high-pressure studies of fundamental magnetism and technologically important correlated electron materials.

Nano Changes Have Macro Importance for a Key Electronics Material

April 23, 2009

Combining the results from several powerful techniques for studying materials structure at the nanoscale, including work at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, researchers believe they have settled a long-standing debate over the source of the unique electronic properties of a material with potentially great importance for wireless communications.

Squeezing an Old Material Could Yield “Instant-On” Memory

April 21, 2009

The technology for storing electronic information has been a major force in the electronics industry for decades. Improving this technology to keep up with new requirements and trends has been an economic driver for as long as the technology has been around. Now, low-power, high-efficiency electronic memory could be the result of research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

A Metal That Becomes Transparent under Pressure

April 20, 2009

Sodium might appear to be an unassuming member of the Periodic Table of Elements, but scientists using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered that sodium displays a unique property by turning transparent when pressure is applied. This result has important implications for understanding highly compressed matter, in particular inside stars and giant planets.

Under Pressure, Atoms Make Unlikely Alloys

March 12, 2009

Ever since the Bronze Age, humans have experimented with combining different metals to create alloys having properties superior to either metal alone. But not all metals readily form alloys. Researchers using high-brilliance x-rays from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source have discovered that previously impossible alloys can be created by subjecting atoms to high pressure―opening possibilities for new materials in the future.

Slowing Down Near the Glass Transition

March 5, 2009

Researchers using an x-ray beamline at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source have gained new information on how the motions of entangled polymer chains in a thin liquid film freeze as the film approaches the temperature at which the liquid goes into a glassy state.

New Light on Improving Engine Efficiencies

March 3, 2009

Power plants based on turbine engines burning natural gas are a key component of future energy grids in the U.S. and other nations. A team of researchers applied the high-brightness x-ray beams from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory to finding ways of incorporating new materials for this promising energy source.

The Crystal Structure of a Meta-stable Intermediate Particle in Virus Assembly

March 3, 2009

A snapshot of the elegant dance performed by viral proteins as they create the infectious structure that causes all manner of misery and disease has been captured by scientists using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Their work may help drug developers pinpoint attack sites for pharmaceuticals, and could have an impact on the emerging field of medical nanotechnology.

Increasing Magnetic Response of Ferromagnetic Semiconductors under High Pressure

February 26, 2009

Scientists using the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Photon Source have manipulated electron mobility and pinpointed the mechanism controlling the strength of magnetic interactions in europium oxide and, hence, the material's magnetic ordering temperature.

Better Switching Through Chemistry in Thin Ferroelectrics

February 24, 2009

Because the atomic structure and polarity of ferroelectric materials respond dramatically to an applied electric field, they have found many applications. But what if there were another way to make ferroelectric materials do their thing—not electrically, but through another mechanism? Experimenters using an x-ray beamline at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source have managed to do just that, proving that not just electricity but also a little bit of chemistry can flip the structure and thus the polarity of a ferroelectric

First Molecular-Level Enzyme Images Could Improve Breast-Cancer Therapy

January 22, 2009

Like watchmakers prying open a complicated timepiece, researchers are using x-ray beams from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source, and the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, to peer into the molecular works of an enzyme that has long defied investigation. What they are discovering may one day make it possible to design safer, more effective cancer-fighting drugs.