Feb. 20, 2026
Most Keggin complexes form parallel arrangements, but plutonium complexes organize themselves in a perpendicular fashion. (Image: Jenna Bustos and Gauthier Deblonde/LLNL)
Putting plutonium behind bars
A collaborative effort from researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories, and Oregon State University has successfully ‘caged’ a plutonium atom inside a Keggin ion. This is the first time researchers have been able to trap plutonium within a Keggin ion.
It was only about 90 years ago that scientists discovered the element Plutonium, but its use ranges from generating energy in nuclear reactors to deep-space exploration. The silvery-gray metal is radioactive and has nearly 20 isotopes.
Each of these isotopes has a different radioactive decay rate and therefore a different half-life. Researchers have synthesized multiple compounds with this metal, and to further material science, they need to understand its atomic structure in greater detail.
When Brian Bennion ran short of antibiotics for his cell cultures, the smelly consequences were the final straw before he switched to computational chemistry.
Too many smells from these cells
In the late 1990s, during my second year as a graduate student at the University of Washington, I was preparing to take over an experimental and computational protein mutation project from a senior student.
I planned to harvest the cells after a group meeting, but midway through the meeting with my student mentor and faculty advisor, there was a knock at the door. Two Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) staff announced, “Hey, you guys are doing something really nasty. We need to find it. We think it's your cultures.”
It turned out that my cultures were indeed the culprit.
About six months later, I had to choose my next career step. I had already considered moving away from benchwork, and the smelly-cultures episode became the final nail in the coffin for me. More than two decades later, I’m still happily doing computational chemistry [at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory], with my only hands-on chemistry now confined to the kitchen.
Grayscale hand design and corresponding prints composed of four programmed domains — skin, ligaments, tendons and bones. (Image: Commisso et al.)
Giving 3D printing a hand
Researchers developed a new 3D printing method that can create an object with components of varying hardness and flexibility, all from the same material, according to a Jan. 29 paper published in the Science journal.
Crystallinity Regulation in Additive Fabrication of Thermoplastics uses varying doses of light to control a plastic’s molecular structure, determining properties such as hardness and transparency, said Zachariah Page, co-author of the paper and associate professor of chemistry at the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. The paper was authored by researchers from UT, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Arizona State University and Oregon State University.
Page said by using existing knowledge about biological tissues, researchers can program a 3D printed model to mimic different parts of the body, such as bone or skin. By adjusting light exposure during printing, specific areas of the structure can be designed to feel like different tissues, he said.
LLNL contributes to the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment, which uses cavity technology that also contributes to advancements in quantum computing. (Photo: Pat McGiffert/UW)
Turn down that quantum noise
Researchers are increasingly focused on understanding magnetic flux noise, a critical limitation affecting the performance of sensitive quantum devices such as magnetometers and dark matter detectors.
Keith G. Ray, Yaniv Rosen, Jonathan L Dubois, and Vincenzo Lordi, all from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, have developed a novel simulation that directly links materials-specific disorder to observed flux noise. Their work represents a significant advance by modelling a spin lattice of paramagnetic oxygen molecules on an aluminium oxide surface, a common source of flux noise, and calculating exchange couplings using density functional theory without relying on arbitrary parameters.
This first-principles approach accurately reproduces experimental trends and, crucially, demonstrates the potential to mitigate flux noise through the application of an external electric field, offering a pathway towards improved quantum device stability and sensitivity.
Over its lifetime, LLF has awarded about 140 fellowships with an estimated 40 more expected this year.
A decade of Livermore Lab Foundation
Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF), the philanthropic partner of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, marking a decade of support for research in areas such as neurodegenerative diseases, Earth and atmospheric science, and fusion energy.
More fundamentally, the foundation’s “bread and butter” since its inception has been its support for students, said LLF Executive Director Sally Allen.
“It gives you a lot of hope for the future when there continues to be this steady pipeline of young people that want to do this important work,” Allen said.
The foundation awards fellowships and research stipends to undergraduate and graduate students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), with a focus on first-generation college students and those with financial needs.
