Robert Hettich: Decoding biological complexity with next-gen mass spectrometry
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø are supporting the grid by improving its smallest building blocks: power modules that act as digital switches.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø and their technologies have received seven 2022 R&D 100 Awards, plus special recognition for a battery-related green technology product.
A method developed at 91°µÍø to print high-fidelity, passive sensors for energy applications can reduce the cost of monitoring critical power grid assets.
The probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM) scans a surface to reveal details at a resolution 1,000 times greater than that of an optical microscope. That makes AFM the premier tool for analyzing physical features, but it cannot tell scientists anything about chemistry. For that they turn to the mass spectrometer (MS).
With more than 30 patents, James Klett is no stranger to success, but perhaps the 91°µÍø researcher’s most noteworthy achievement didn’t start out so hot – or so it seemed at the time.
From the bluebird painting propped against her office wall and the deer she mentions seeing outside her office window, Linda Lewis might be mistaken for a wildlife biologist at first glance. But rather than trailing animal tracks, Lewis, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø, is more interested in marks left behind by humans.
Graphene, a strong, lightweight carbon honeycombed structure that’s only one atom thick, holds great promise for energy research and development. Recently scientists with the Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures, and Transport (FIRST) Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), led by the US Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø, revealed graphene can serve as a proton-selective permeable membrane, providing a new basis for streamlined and more efficient energy technologies such as improved fuel cells.
Andrew Stack, a geochemist at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø, advances understanding of the dynamics of minerals underground.
Throw a rock through a window made of silica glass, and the brittle, insulating oxide pane shatters. But whack a golf ball with a club made of metallic glass—a resilient conductor that looks like metal—and the glass not only stays intact but also may drive the ball farther than conventional clubs. In light of this contrast, the nature of glass seems anything but clear.
In 2015, American consumers will finally be able to purchase fuel cell cars from Toyota and other manufacturers. Although touted as zero-emissions vehicles, most of the cars will run on hydrogen made from natural gas, a fossil fuel that contributes to global warming.