lawrence berkeley national laboratory
New path to flex and stretch electronics
Imprinting electronic circuitry on backplanes that are both flexible and stretchable promises to revolutionize a number of industries and make “smart devices” nearly ubiquitous. Among the applications that have been envisioned are electronic pads that …
3-D nanoparticle in atomic resolution
In chemical terms, nanoparticles have different properties from their «big brothers and sisters»: they have a large surface area in relation to their tiny mass and at the same time a small number of atoms. This can produce quantum effects that lea…
Firefly glow: Berkeley Lab scientists develop a hydrogen peroxide probe based on firefly luciferin
A unique new probe based on luciferase, the enzyme that gives fireflies their glow, enables researchers to monitor hydrogen peroxide levels in mice and thereby track the progression of infectious diseases or cancerous tumors without harming t…
Challenges for biofuels: New life cycle assessment report from Energy Biosciences Institute
A combination of rising costs, shrinking supplies, and concerns about global climate change are spurring the development of alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels to meet our transportation energy needs. Scientific studies have shown the mo…
A second pathway for antidepressants
Using a unique and relatively simple cell-based fluorescent assay they developed, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC), Berkeley have ide…
A dash of disorder yields a very efficient photocatalyst
A little disorder goes a long way, especially when it comes to harnessing the sun’s energy. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) jumbled the atomic structure of the surface layer of tit…
The practical full-spectrum solar cell comes closer
Solar cells are made from semiconductors whose ability to respond to light is determined by their band gaps (energy gaps). Different colors have different energies, and no single semiconductor has a band gap that can respond to sunlight’s full…
GRIN plasmonics
They said it could be done and now they’ve done it. What’s more, they did it with a GRIN. A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berke…
A nanoscale rope, and another step toward complex nanomaterials that assemble themselves
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have coaxed polymers to braid themselves into wispy nanoscale ropes that approach the structural complexity of biological materials.
Their work is t…
Polymer membranes with molecular-sized channels that assemble themselves
Many futurists envision a world in which polymer membranes with molecular-sized channels are used to capture carbon, produce solar-based fuels, or desalinating sea water, among many other functions. This will require methods by which such membr…
New glass tops steel in strength and toughness
Glass stronger and tougher than steel? A new type of damage-tolerant metallic glass, demonstrating a strength and toughness beyond that of any known material, has been developed and tested by a collaboration of researchers with the U.S. Departme…