Hydrogen storage gets new hope

Economical hydrogen-based vehicles could result from rechargeable 'chemical fuel tank'

03-Sep-2009 - A new method for "recycling" hydrogen-containing fuel materials could open the door to economically viable hydrogen-based vehicles. In an article appearing in Angewandte Chemie, Los Alamos National Laboratory and University of Alabama researchers working within the U.S. Department of Energy's ...

Scientists detect 'fingerprint' of high-temp superconductivity above transition temperature

Method may help identify conditions needed to get current flowing at higher temperatures

01-Sep-2009 - A team of U.S. and Japanese scientists has shown for the first time that the spectroscopic "fingerprint" of high-temperature superconductivity remains intact well above the super chilly temperatures at which these materials carry current with no resistance. This confirms that certain conditions ...

Argonne, University of Chicago scientists develop targeted cancer treatment using nanomaterials

Nano-bio material kills cancer cells, leaves healthy cells in unharmed

21-Aug-2009 - Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center have developed a way to target brain cancer cells using inorganic titanium dioxide nanoparticles bonded to soft biological material. Thousands of people die from ...

SLAC researchers reveal the dance of water

14-Aug-2009 - Water is familiar to everyone - it shapes our bodies and our planet. But despite this abundance, the molecular structure of water has remained a mystery, with the substance exhibiting many strange properties that are still poorly understood. Recent work at the Department of Energy's SLAC National ...

Air Products Selected for Department of Energy Research Grant

Work to Accelerate Commercialization of Clean Solar Energy

06-Aug-2009 - Air Products has been selected to receive more than $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under DOE’s Solar Energy Technology Program. Air Products will use its expertise in etch and deposition science, gained from more than 35 years’ experience in the global electronics industry, ...

DOE-funded research projects win 46 R&D 100 Awards for 2009

29-Jul-2009 - U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that Energy Department-funded researchers have won 46 of the 100 awards given out this year by R&D Magazine for the most outstanding technology developments with promising commercial potential. The coveted awards are presented annually in recognition ...

A new method to cleaner and more efficient CO2 capture

24-Jul-2009 - Separating carbon dioxide from its polluting source, such as the flue gas from a coal-fired power plant, may soon become cleaner and more efficient. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher has developed a screening method that would use ionic liquids - a special type of molten salt ...

More than meets the eye: New blue light nanocrystals

24-Jul-2009 - Berkeley Lab researchers have produced non-toxic magnesium oxide nanocrystals that efficiently emit blue light and could also play a role in long-term storage of carbon dioxide, a potential means of tempering the effects of global warming. In its bulk form, magnesium oxide is a cheap, white ...

New technique can fast-track better ionic liquids for biomass pre-treatments

16-Jul-2009 - They've been dubbed "grassoline" – second generation biofuels made from inedible plant material, including fast-growing weeds, agricultural waste, sawdust, etc. – and numerous scientific studies have shown them to be prime candidates for replacing gasoline to meet our transportation needs. ...

Nanopillars promise cheap, efficient, flexible solar cells

14-Jul-2009 - Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have demonstrated a way to fabricate efficient solar cells from low-cost and flexible materials. The new design grows optically active semiconductors in arrays of ...