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Materials Science
3D-printed interlocking electrodes demonstrate optimization potential for energy storage
Good electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices such as rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors can store a lot of energy and release it quickly, but these design goals are often at odds with each other. Using design optimization and 3D printing, a team led by engineers and scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have overcome this tradeoff and…
Early-career researchers show off science and communication skills at 2026 National Lab Research SLAM
From recovering valuable metals and identifying unknown pathogens to designing robust quantum hardware and providing a 3D view of microplastics, Department of Energy (DOE) scientists are tackling the problems that matter. At the 2026 National Lab Research SLAM, 17 early-career researchers had a chance to show off that work — and to compete. In just three minutes and using…
Looking into the void to cancel out material instabilities
Picture two materials sandwiched together. The boundary between them may appear flat, but, in reality, it is full of tiny bumps and dents. Suddenly, the materials are hit with a shockwave. If that wave hits a bump in the material interface, it slows down. If it hits a dent, it accelerates forward. This imbalance creates fast, narrow jets of material — called the Richtmyer…
Big Ideas Lab explores how HPC for Energy Innovation advances U.S. industry
Some of the toughest challenges in American manufacturing are being solved without ever stepping onto a factory floor. Inside supercomputers, scientists are modeling systems too complex, costly or time-consuming to test in the real world. In the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) spotlights the High-Performance…
Big Ideas Lab podcast explores energetic materials and the science behind explosive performance
In less than a millionth of a second, a high explosive can release its energy, generating pressures and temperatures that push materials to their limits. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), scientists in the Energetic Materials Center (EMC) study these extreme conditions using experiments, computation and specialized facilities. The latest episode of the Big…
Allowing atoms to come and go opens the door to better materials modeling
Most materials, especially metals and ceramics, are crystals. Their atoms are arranged in three-dimensional lattices that repeat the same exact pattern, over and over again. But there’s a well-known saying in materials science: “Crystals are like people. It is the defects that tend to make them interesting.” In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers…
LLNL honors 36 as 2026 Distinguished Members of Technical Staff
Thirty-six Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have been named Distinguished Members of Technical Staff (DMTS) in recognition of their extraordinary scientific and technical contributions, as affirmed by their professional peers and the broader scientific community. As distinguished citizens of the Laboratory and their respective fields, DMTS honorees…
LLNL, Meta co-develop groundbreaking polymer-chemistry dataset for training AI models
Polymers are fundamental to our daily lives, serving as the core components for a wide array of goods, including clothing, packaging, transportation infrastructure, construction materials and electronics. Advances in polymer science open pathways for recycling and upcycling waste materials into more valuable chemical feedstocks. They also can have an outsized environmental…
Keeping the public safe at the big game: LLNL’s RAP team deploys to Santa Clara, California
As thousands of fans streamed toward Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, vendors hawked memorabilia, the scent of garlic fries filled the air and security officers checked clear bags beneath white tents. Somewhere in that crowd, walking the same sidewalks and concourses, were a handful of team members carrying gear…
Transistor-like membranes enhance ion separation
By applying voltage to electrically control a new “transistor” membrane, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved real-time tuning of ion separations — a capability previously thought impossible. The recent work, which could make precision separation processes like water treatment, drug delivery and rare earth element extraction more efficient,…
Advanced simulation and modeling pave a path forward for single-crystal battery materials
The performance of rechargeable batteries is governed by processes deep within their components. A fundamental understanding of electrochemistry, structure–property–performance relationships and the effects of processing and operating conditions is essential for accelerating the development of next-generation battery technologies capable of powering electric vehicles,…
Americium, curium and californium — oh my! Crystallizing the rarest elements at LLNL
Actinides are a group of heavy, radioactive elements that include uranium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium and californium. Understanding how these elements bond with other atoms (known as coordination chemistry), how they behave in water and how they can be separated from one another is crucial for safer nuclear waste management, new reactor technologies and…
Finding resonance: How LLNL expertise is amplifying collaboration in quantum computing
In November, the Department of Energy Office of Science renewed the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS), hosted by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, with $125 million over the next five years to accelerate breakthroughs in quantum information science. The investment continues to unite more than 300 experts from 43 partner institutions across…
LLNL researchers discover new way to ‘cage’ plutonium
Plutonium (Pu) exhibits one of the most diverse and complex chemistries of any element in the periodic table. Since its discovery in 1940, scientists have synthesized and studied many different types of plutonium-containing compounds using tools that reveal both their atomic structures and how they interact with light. Not only does plutonium have numerous alloys and…
Fentanyl or phony? Machine-learning algorithm learns to pick out opioid signatures
New forms of fentanyl are created every day. For law enforcement, that poses a challenge: how do you identify a chemical you’ve never seen before? Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) aim to answer that question with a machine-learning model that can distinguish opioids from other chemicals with an accuracy over 95% in a laboratory setting. The…
Nanotubes with lids mimic real biology
When water and ions move together through channels only a nanometer wide, they behave in unusual ways. In these tight spaces, water molecules line up in single file. This forces ions to shed some of the water molecules that normally surround them, leading to the unique physics of ion transport. Biological channels are especially adept at this behavior, often choreographing…
Light-based 3D printing lets scientists program plastic properties at the microscale
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have co-developed a new way to precisely control the internal structure of common plastics during 3D printing, allowing a single printed object to seamlessly shift from rigid to flexible using only light. In a paper published today in Science, the researchers describe a technique called crystallinity regulation…
LLNL’s energy scale-up brainstorming event focused on accelerating pilot-ready technologies
Solving tomorrow’s challenges in energy security requires scientists to develop new pathways to streamline innovation. To help achieve this goal, the Global Security Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently hosted an “Energy Scale-up Brainstorming Day.” More than 60 researchers across a broad range of expertise gathered to engage in interactive…
From fleeting to stable: scientists uncover recipe for new carbon dioxide-based energetic materials
When materials are compressed, their atoms are forced into unusual arrangements that do not normally exist under everyday conditions. These configurations are often fleeting: when the pressure is released, the atoms typically relax back to a stable low-pressure state. Only a few very specific materials, like diamond, retain their high-pressure structure after returning to…
New code connects microscopic insights to the macroscopic world
In inertial confinement fusion, a capsule of fuel begins at temperatures near zero and pressures close to vacuum. When lasers compress that fuel to trigger fusion, the material heats up to millions of degrees and reaches pressures similar to the core of the sun. That process happens within a miniscule amount of space and time. To understand this process, scientists need to…
