Just as members of a marching band align themselves for a performance, carbon nanotubes create a similar configuration. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists recently used synchrotron X-ray scattering to fully capture the hierarchical structure in self-organized carbon nanotube materials from the atomic to micrometer scale. Their work, recently published in the June issue of ACS…
Carbon Nanotubes Mimic Biology
Proteins in lipid membranes are one of the fundamental building blocks of biological functionality. Lawrence Livermore researchers have figured out how to mimic their role using carbon nanotube porins. Using high-speed, atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM), the team showed that a new type of biomimetic channel—carbon nanotube porins (CNTPs)—also is laterally mobile in supported lipid membranes, mirroring…
Carbon Nanotubes Mimic Biology
Proteins in lipid membranes are one of the fundamental building blocks of biological functionality. Lawrence Livermore researchers have figured out how to mimic their role using carbon nanotube porins. Using high-speed, atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM), the team showed that a new type of biomimetic channel — carbon nanotube porins (CNTPs) — also is laterally mobile…
Charcoal Could Limit Uptake of Radioactive Elements into Marshall Islands Food Chain
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have conducted a series of laboratory and field experiments that explore the effects of adding biochar, a porous charcoal that looks like black landscaping bark, to the soil to limit the cesium (Cs) uptake into foods grown in the Marshall Islands. From 1946 to 1958, the United States tested 67…
“Heart-on-a-Chip” Decreases Need for Drugs
Prescription drugs have enabled millions of Americans with chronic medical conditions to live longer and more fulfilling lives, but many promising new drugs never make it to the human trials stage due to the potential for cardiac toxicity. Through “heart-on-a-chip” technology — modeling a human heart on an engineered chip and measuring the effects of…
Researchers Create “Heart-on-a-Chip” to Improve Drug Development
National Lab Achieves Breakthrough in 3D Glass Printing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and academic collaborators have demonstrated the synthesis of transparent glass through 3D printing, a development that could ultimately lead to altering the design and structure of lasers and other devices that incorporate optics. A team of LLNL researchers, along with scientists from the University of Minnesota and Oklahoma State University,…
Researchers Achieve Breakthrough in 3D-Printed Optics
Lawrence Livermore National Lab scientists and academic collaborators have demonstrated the synthesis of transparent glass through 3D printing, a development that could ultimately lead to altering the design and structure of lasers and other devices that incorporate optics. A team of LLNL researchers, along with scientists from the University of Minnesota and Oklahoma State University,…
Breakthrough Next-Gen NIF Optics Boost Energy And Limit Damage
A new anti-reflective coating and a novel chemical process for laser optics, developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers, represents an important breakthrough in its effort to boost the energy of the National Ignition Facility’s (NIF) 192 giant lasers and cut the cost of repairing or replacing damaged optics vital to its operation. The…
Innovative Toolkit Provides Quick Bacterial Detection
Finding the right treatment plan for patients who have antibiotic-resistant infections is a costly and time-consuming effort. For doctors in rural areas or developing countries, there often is no source of electricity nearby or sterile lab conditions with microbiology specialists on hand. The current standard for bacterial identification is to isolate and grow the species…
Imaging High Explosive Detonators
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators at Los Alamos National Laboratory(link is external) (LANL) for the first time have taken 3D snapshots of operating high explosive detonators. Scientists from LLNL, Los Alamos and National Security Technologies, LLC (link is external)(NSTech) combined state-of-the-art imaging capabilities with computed tomographic reconstruction (X-ray cross sectional imaging) in experiments performed at the Argonne National…
Nano-Sized Hydrogen Storage System Boosts Efficiency
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have collaborated with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, including colleagues from Sandia National Laboratories, to develop an efficient hydrogen storage system that could be a boon for hydrogen-powered vehicles. Hydrogen is an excellent energy carrier, but the development of lightweight solid-state materials for compact, low-pressure storage is a huge challenge.…
Nanoconfinement Shows Promise for Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
Lawrence Livermore scientists have collaborated with an interdisciplinary team of researchers including colleagues from Sandia National Laboratories to develop an efficient hydrogen storage system that could be a boon for hydrogen powered vehicles. Hydrogen is an excellent energy carrier, but the development of lightweight solid-state materials for compact, low-pressure storage is a huge challenge. Complex…
Nanotube Growth Moving in The Right Direction
For the first time, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and collaborators have captured a movie of how large populations of carbon nanotubes grow and align themselves. Understanding how carbon nanotubes (CNT) nucleate, grow and self-organize to form macroscale materials is critical for application-oriented design of next-generation supercapacitors, electronic interconnects, separation membranes and advanced yarns and fabrics. New research by…
Silicon Radiation Damage Revealed in Pulsed-Ion Beam Experiments
Materials scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have used a novel pulsed-ion-beam method to identify mechanisms of radiation defect formation in silicon. The research could have implications for improvements in modern electronics performance. Understanding radiation defects in crystals has been a major materials physics challenge for decades. Stable defect formation often involves dynamic processes…
Researchers Collaborate to Improve Cancer Screening
Laboratory computer scientists and Norwegian researchers are collaborating to apply high performance computing (HPC) to the analysis of medical data to improve screening for cervical cancer. The convergence of high performance computing, big data and life science is enabling the development of personalized medicine, says Ghaleb Abdulla, Livermore lead on the collaboration with Norway and director…
Scientists Purify Copper Nanowires
Cell phones and Apple watches could last a little longer due to a new method to create copper nanowires. A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have created a new method to purify copper nanowires with a near-100 percent yield. These nanowires are often used in nanoelectronic applications. The research, which appears in the online…
Copper Nanowires Extend Life of Phones, Apple Watches
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have created a new method to purify copper nanowires with a near-100 percent yield. These nanowires are often used in nanoelectronic applications. The research, which appears in the online edition of Chemical Communications and on the cover of the hardcopy issue, shows how the method can…
Iron Springs Back to Shape Under Pressure
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicists has performed a series of calculations shedding light on an unexpected way that iron transforms under dynamic compression. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, the team describes first-principle calculations on two solid phases of iron, as well as on intermediate crystal structures along the transformation path…
Putting Pressure on 3D-Printed Structures
Through a series of dynamic compression experiments on additively manufactured (AM) structured lattices, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team, supported by colleagues at Los Alamos National Laboratory, has found that the assemblies have unique properties not exhibited by disordered cellular materials. During the experiment, elastic deflection of the structure occurred ahead of the compaction front…
3D-printed Structures Are Feeling the Pressure
Through a series of dynamic compression experiments on additively manufactured (AM) structured lattices, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team, supported by colleagues at Los Alamos National Laboratory, has found that the assemblies have unique properties not exhibited by disordered cellular materials. During the experiment, elastic deflection of the structure occurred ahead of the compaction front…
3D Printed Polymer Turns Methane to Methanol
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have combined biology and 3D printing to create the first reactor that can continuously produce methanol from methane at room temperature and pressure. The team removed enzymes from methanotrophs, bacteria that eat methane, and mixed them with polymers that they printed or molded into innovative reactors. The research, which could…