Tag Archives: Argonne National Laboratory

Science & Technology

Chiral 'pinwheels' self-assembled from C60 and pentacene

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In a recent study from the Electronic & Magnetic Materials & Devices and Theory & Modeling groups at the Argonne National Laboratory, C60 and pentacene (Pn) molecules, two workhorses of organic electronics and opto-electronics, are observed to self-assemble on a Cu(111) surface into in-plane “pinwheel”-shaped and chiral heterojunctions. Calculations confirm that the heterostructures are energetically favorable conformations and reveal electron charge transfer from the Pn to the C60 in this chiral morphology, a critical signature of electronic heterojunctions. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

News, Politics, Government

President Obama Visits the Argonne National Research Lab to Talk About American Energy Security

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By <a href="/author-detail/475">Colleen Curtis</a>

Few areas hold more promise for creating good jobs and growing our economy than how we use American energy, and today President Obama visited the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois to talk about the progress we are seeing from his all of the above approach to energy independence and the risk that this important sector faces from the arbitrary cuts being imposed by the so-called sequester.

As President Obama noted in his remarks, these cuts do not distinguish between wasteful programs and vital investments. “They don’t trim the fat; they cut into muscle and into bone,” the President said. “Like research and development being done right here that not only gives a great place for young researchers to come and ply their trade, but also ends up creating all kinds of spinoffs that create good jobs and good wages.”

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House

News, Politics, Government

With New Energy Fund, Obama Adds Fuel to Cleantech Engine

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By Richard Martin, Contributor

Speaking today at Argonne National Laboratory, outside Chicago, President Obama laid out the details of his “Energy Security Trust,” a proposal to direct $2 billion in federal revenue from oil and gas leases to R&D for clean transportation technologies.  Following up on the pledge made in his State of the Union Address, to confront global climate change, the plan unveiled today should add momentum to a cleantech market surge that’s already underway. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Automobiles

Obama calls for spending $2 billion in oil lease revenues on clean vehicles

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By Sebastian Blanco

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President Obama wants to know how many clean cars $2 billion can buy. In an announcement expected later today, the President is expected to ask Congress to use $2 billion that the government has raised from allowing oil and gas exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf to fund clean energy transportation. That means plug-in vehicles, better batteries, biofuels and compressed natural gas vehicles.

Obama will reportedly make the announcement at Argonne National Laboratory, a site already known for automotive innovation, including the development of an omnivorous engine and, with General Motors, improved batteries. The President previously mentioned taking oil and gas money and putting it into an “Energy Security Trust” fund in his State of the Union speech last month. The money would come from offshore oil drilling leases and would be spread out over 10 years. There would not be any expansion of offshore drilling (or a change in the administration’s position on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) to raise the money. The end goal, as we’ve heard so many times before, is to “protect American families from spikes in gas prices and allow us to run our cars and trucks on electricity or homegrown fuels,” according to White House documents.

Of course, just because the President asks for something doesn’t mean Congress will go along. As the The Detroit News notes, the President asked for $650 million for battery and vehicle research last year but Congress only approved $330 million. Also, there are still many billions of Department of Energy loan money left over from the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan (ATVMP).

Obama calls for spending $2 billion in oil lease revenues on clean vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Science & Technology

Visualization of gold nanoparticle self-assembly via TEM

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The self-assembly of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) coated with specific organic ions in water was observed by Center for Nanoscale Materials staff in the Nanobio Interfaces, Electronic & Magnetic Materials & Devices, and Nanophotonics groups at the Argonne National Laboratory using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipped with a liquid cell. The Au NPs formed one-dimensional chains within a few minutes. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

Science & Technology

Enhanced light-harvesting in quantum dot-metal-organic frameworks

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Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) users from Northwestern University, working together with the Nanophotonics Group at the Argonne National Laboratory, report the functionalization of porphyrin-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) for the enhancement of light harvesting via energy transfer from the QDs to the MOFs. This work paves the road for the development of efficient light harvesting complexes for solar energy conversion. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

History

Picasso used house paint

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By hnn

Pablo Picasso, famous for pushing the boundaries of art with cubism, also broke with convention when it came to paint, new research shows. X-ray analysis of some of the painter’s masterworks solves a long-standing mystery about the type of paint the artist used on his canvases, revealing it to be basic house paint.

Art scholars had long suspected Picasso was one of the first master artists to employ house paint, rather than traditional artists’ paint, to achieve a glossy style that hid brush marks. There was no absolute confirmation of this, however, until now.

Physicists at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., trained their hard X-ray nanoprobe at Picasso’s painting “The Red Armchair,” completed in 1931, which they borrowed from the Art Institute of Chicago. The nanoprobe instrument can “see” details down to the level of individual pigment particles, revealing the arrangement of particular chemical elements in the paint….

Source:
Discovery News

Source URL:
http://news.discovery.com/history/art-history/picasso-used-common-house-paint-130208.htm

Date:
2-8-13

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at History News Network – George Mason University

Science & Technology

Ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy as a probe of nonequilibrium dynamics in ruthenium complexes

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(Phys.org)—Exciting the atoms or molecules of a substance via the use of visible light, or photoexcitation, can play a significant role in a range of energy-conversion processes, such as natural photosynthesis (oxygen from water) and manmade solar cells (electricity from sunlight). But a better understanding of the photoexcitation process is necessary in order to fully exploit this potential resource. Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory and Northern Illinois University have shown that the ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy technique employed at a high-brightness x-ray light source such as the Argonne Advanced Photon Source can produce valuable new information about the physics underlying photoexcitation. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

Science & Technology

Batteries: Scientists see how and where disruptive structures form and cause voltage fading

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(Phys.org)—Starting as a few atoms long, thorns forming on the electrode’s surface in a specialized lithium battery cause the battery to gradually fade, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Argonne National Laboratory. Working with powerful imaging technologies in DOE’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), the team determined that a kind of thorn with the crystallographic spinel structure grows out of the electrode material and eventually leads to the complete conversion of the whole electrode material into the spinel structure. Furthermore, growth of this spinel structure liberates lithium oxide molecules, causing cracking and pitting. The damaged electrode thereby fades, releasing less energy with each charge/discharge cycle.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org