New PNNL research shows that a pairing of humble minerals outshines other reactive materials when it comes to producing hydrogen.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories have joined forces to reduce costs and improve the reliability of hydrogen fueling stations.

PNNL materials scientist Kevin Simmons is part of a collaboration that was recognized for work in hydrogen safety, codes and standards recently at the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program annual merit review and peer evaluation.

It’s hot in there! PNNL researchers take a close, but nonradioactive, look at metal particle formation in a nuclear fuel surrogate material. What they found will help fill knowledge gaps and could lead to better nuclear fuel designs.

Josef "Pepa" Matyas, a materials scientist in PNNL’s Nuclear Sciences Division, has been elected a fellow of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS). He will be recognized at the ACerS annual meeting on September 30, 2019, in Portland, Ore.

Kelsey Stoerzinger leverages advances in surface chemistry to develop materials for clean energy and water purification.

Many industries are increasingly looking at hydrogen as a relatively new but efficient, clean, and quiet power source.

Xenon search successful! A new scanning transmission electron microscope helps PNNL researchers find xenon deep in a section of nuclear fuel cladding.

Researchers used novel methods to safely create and analyze plutonium samples. The approaches could prove influential in future studies of the radioactive material, benefitting research in legacy, national security and nuclear fuels.

PNNL receives additional funding for electrocatalyst research to store and release energy.

80 years after the Hindenburg disaster, it still influences perceptions about the use of hydrogen as a vehicle fuel, but hydrogen, like gasoline, can be handled and used safely.

PNNL is collaborating with three small businesses to address technical challenges concerning hydrogen for fuel cell cars, bio-coal and nanomaterial manufacturing.

Using a natural catalyst from bacteria for inspiration, researchers have now reported the fastest synthetic catalysts to date for hydrogen production-- producing 45 million hydrogen molecules per second.

In fast-neutron reactors, fuel is sealed in ~7 millimeter diameter steel tubes called cladding. When a high-energy "fast" neutron strikes an atom in the steel, it can knock the atom out of place, like a cue ball striking another billiard ball. This leaves two types of damage in the metal: an empty spot where the atom was, and the displaced atom wedged between other atoms. Over time, these defects typically drive undesirable rearrangement of the microstructure, potentially reducing the life of the cladding.