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Materials Science
Lawrence Livermore’s popular 'Science on Saturday' lecture series returns to Las Positas College
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) popular lecture series, “Science on Saturday,” returns Feb. 3 and runs through Feb. 24. The series offers four different lectures with the theme, “Magic of Materials.” Each lecture is presented by leading LLNL researchers who are joined by high-school science teachers. Below is the schedule of lectures, which can also be…
New analysis outlines national opportunities to remove CO2 at the gigaton scale
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers, along with scientists from more than a dozen institutions, have completed a first-of-its-kind high-resolution assessment of carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR) in the United States. The report, “Roads to Removal: Options for Carbon Dioxide Removal in the United States,” charts a path for the United States to achieve…
Just add salt: Researchers explore a new electricity-free cooling method
Rising global temperatures are creating an increased demand for cooling as the number of air-conditioning units used worldwide is expected to triple by 2050. However, with 13% of the global population without access to electricity, solutions that can provide cooling without electricity are needed. In a study published in Materials Horizon, a Lawrence Livermore National…
Watching aluminum’s reaction under extreme pressure
Understanding laser material interactions has applications that include inertial confinement fusion, material research and equation of state studies. Laser ablation, and specifically increasing the pressure that can be achieved from a laser system, is a longstanding topic of scientific research with implications ranging from damage in layered devices like solar cells and…
Probing the temperature of materials under extreme pressure
In new experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility, scientists measured the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of copper to probe its temperature under extreme pressure. The research appears in the journal Nature Communications. Dynamic compression experiments at high-energy-density laser facilities have expanded the…
LLNL hosts HBCU students, faculty to build new pipeline of talent
For the second consecutive year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) hosted a group of student scholars and faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on a recent five-day visit. LLNL’s goal is to develop the next wave of summer interns — and to build a strong pipeline of talent — from historically marginalized groups in science,…
LLNL’s Feaster named to American Institute for Chemical Engineering’s '35 Under 35' class for 2023
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff scientist Jeremy Feaster has been named as one of the American Institute for Chemical Engineering’s (AIChE) “35 Under 35” award winners for 2023. The recognition honors chemical engineers under the age of 35 who have made outstanding contributions to their field and to the chemical engineering community, according to the…
Two LLNL scientists selected as 2023 American Physical Society fellows
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists Manyalibo “Ibo” Matthews and Frank Graziani have been named 2023 American Physical Society (APS) fellows. Matthews was selected from the Forum in Industrial and Applied Physics unit “for pioneering research in optimizing metal 3D printing and laser materials processing.” Frank Graziani was chosen from the Division of…
Wat co-authors article on improving DEI in materials science education
Amy Wat (Materials Science Division) was featured on the cover of the Journal of the Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society (JOM) for her case study on how to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in materials science education. The resulting article, “Cal State LA: An Example for Successful DEI Outcomes for Students,” (pages 13–16) introduces the university’s…
In a first, LLNL researchers create birefringent all-glass metasurface
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have adapted their novel metasurface process, which creates a thin layer on the surface of an optic, to create an all-glass metasurface with birefringence, or dual refraction, properties. This achievement could transform waveplate technology for high-power laser systems such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF)…
PLS postdocs excel at the 2023 Research Slam
On Thursday, August 24, a dozen LLNL postdocs presented in the annual Postdoctoral Research Slam, answering the question “Why is my research important?” in only three minutes. Each talk was then evaluated by LLNL leadership, awarding first and second place to PLS postdocs Brandon Zimmerman and Aditya Prajapati, respectively. As a bonus, the attending audience voted on…
Unlocking gas phase uranium oxidation is key to nuclear debris modeling
In the quest to understand how nuclear debris forms, a team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has developed an approach to studying the oxidation mechanism of gas phase uranium in extreme environments. In research recently published in Scientific Reports, the team outlined their work, which combined experimental data from a plasma flow reactor …
LLNL and Meta engineers develop 3D-printed material with potential for more lifelike wearables
Engineers and chemists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Meta have developed a new kind of 3D-printed material capable of replicating characteristics of biological tissue, an advancement that could impact the future of “augmented humanity.” In a paper recently published in the journal Matter, LLNL and Meta researchers describe a framework for creating a …
New chemistry leads to more robust carbon capture materials
In a significant stride toward implementing scalable climate solutions, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have uncovered how some carbon capture materials have improved lifetime compared to others. These materials are key in addressing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming concerns. Researchers have shed light on the mechanism that empowers…
Breaking down barriers: Sharee Harris shares her career story
A common misconception is that those interested in technical roles at a national laboratory must hold a graduate degree such as a Ph.D. On the contrary, roughly 40% of the science, technology and engineering workforce at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) claim an associate’s or bachelor’s degree as their highest education level. This false narrative is…
Matter at extremes: a question of scale
Scaling laws are like a secret code used across science to break down complex phenomena into simple mathematical expressions. These equations help us to understand how one factor in a system relates to other factors that determine the system’s behavior. For example, Kleiber’s Law, one of the best-known scaling laws, observes that metabolic rates of many organisms — from…
New Lab projects to promote STEM diversity, accelerate battery research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will partner with outside institutions to improve diversity in the STEM workforce and provide training to underrepresented students and researchers under a pair of projects recently funded by the Department of Energy. With support from DOE’s Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR) initiative, LLNL will partner with…
Understanding the plasticity of diamond for improved fusion ignition
Alex Li, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) summer student in the Computational Chemistry and Materials Science Summer Institute, recently led a study published in the journal Matter to investigate the evolution of plasticity in diamond along different loading orientations and the effects that voids (pores) within the material can have on stresses within the…
New research shows successful ab initio crystal structure prediction of energetic materials
New research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers and collaborators from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) demonstrates that crystal structure prediction is a useful tool for studying the various ways the molecules can pack together, also known as ubiquitous polymorphism, in energetic materials. The research also shows promise of becoming an integral part…
Versatile cold spray for a greener economy
Permanent magnets form the backbone of clean energy technologies from direct-drive wind turbines to electric motors, and will form a key component of the upcoming transition to a green economy. There is significant interest in the application of additive manufacturing approaches to produce permanent magnets, with techniques such as laser powder-bed fusion and binder-jet…
