http://www.pnnl.gov/science/ Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss suraiya.farukhi@pnnl.gov christine.sharp@pnnl.gov http://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1391Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1390Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1386Results: Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have uncovered the characteristics of a low-resistance electrical contact to strontium titanate, SrTiO₃, an important prototypical oxide semiconductor.  Oxides are likely to be important materials in next-generation electronic devices, and they need to be extremely small. Getting electrical signals into and out of oxide semiconductors is hard because a large energy barrier typically develops at the junction with metal contacts.  Metal contacts are required to get electricity into and out of a semiconductor device in much the same way that jumper cables are needed to transfer power from a healthy car battery to a dead battery. This work shows how to eliminate this barrier while keeping the contact area extremely small, at the nanometer (one billionth of a meter) level. ]]>Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1384Results: Given two catalysts for the job of turning intermittent wind or solar energy into chemical fuels, scientists chose the material that gets the job done quickly and uses the least energy. A catalyst that quickly produces fuel but uses far more energy than it stores won't get the job. Scientists could measure the wasted energy, also known as overpotential, in water but not in other liquids, until researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory devised a quick, elegant technique. ]]>Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1381Results: Capturing carbon dioxide and storing it in underground rock formations is one proposed solution to mitigate climate change. New knowledge about the chemical reactions between stored carbon dioxide and forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) is helping determine how much confidence can be placed in using igneous rocks with magnesium-rich olivines for long-term carbon sequestration. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory determined that the carbon dioxide and forsterite react to form hydrated dypingite [(Mg₅(CO₃)₄•5H₂O)], which precipitates from solution. ]]>Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1378Results: A new catalyst is faster when it and its surrounding acid have the same proton affinity or pKa, according to scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, an Energy Frontier Research Center, at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The catalyst drives turning electrons and protons into a bond between two hydrogen atoms, storing the energy. Making the catalyst faster is vital to designing technologies that can store electrons created by wind turbines. The team's experimental and computational studies focused on the acid that supplies the reaction's protons. When the acid and the catalyst had the same pKa, the speed jumped from 2,400 and 27,000 hydrogen molecules a second to 4,100 to 96,000. ]]>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1323Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1328Results: In extreme cold, carbon dioxide huddles near charged oxygen atom outcroppings on the surface of oft-studied titanium dioxide; the carbon dioxide lacks the energy to reach a more protected spot, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. When heated, the carbon dioxide slides into a more substantial, reactive oxygen vacancy, holes left by missing oxygen atoms. The team tracked the carbon dioxide with a scanning tunneling microscope tip that provided atomic-resolution images. ]]>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1371Results: Whether gas trapped under a frozen water layer flows through cracks or bursts out depends on the layer's depth and temperature, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The water isn't crystalline ice; it is amorphous solid water, which is disordered and often described as a "frozen" liquid. The team proved that in some cases, gases trapped under amorphous water films are released via fissures that form during crystallization. For thicker trapped gas layers, the gas can escape abruptly before crystallization. This work graced a cover of The Journal of Chemical Physics. ]]>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=1366the stories of these, and many more, women in STEM can inspire others as they think about the future. Only 24% of the STEM workforce is female, an alarming gap as over 51% of the workforce overall is female." ]]>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PST