Machine learning takes materials modeling into new era

Deep learning approach enables accurate electronic structure calculations at large scales

11-Jul-2023 - The arrangement of electrons in matter, known as the electronic structure, plays a crucial role in fundamental but also applied research such as drug design and energy storage. However, the lack of a simulation technique that offers both high fidelity and scalability across different time and ...

The hidden culprit killing lithium-metal batteries from the inside

First-of-their-kind snapshots reveal byproduct crippling powerful, experimental cells

16-Jul-2021 - For decades, scientists have tried to make reliable lithium-metal batteries. These high-performance storage cells hold 50% more energy than their prolific, lithium-ion cousins, but higher failure rates and safety problems like fires and explosions have crippled commercialization efforts. ...

Bright thinking leads to breakthrough in nuclear threat detection science

03-Jul-2017 - Taking inspiration from an unusual source, a Sandia National Laboratories team has dramatically improved the science of scintillators -- objects that detect nuclear threats. According to the team, using organic glass scintillators could soon make it even harder to smuggle nuclear materials ...

Better 'fingerprints' to detect elusive, valuable chemical compounds

28-Jun-2017 - Imagine being able to see the entire Statue of Liberty and a small ant on its nose simultaneously. The drastic difference in size between the two objects would seem to render this task impossible. On a molecular level, this is exactly what a team led by Sandia National Laboratories chemists David ...

Prototype electrolyte sensor to provide immediate read-outs

Painless wearable microneedle device may reduce trips to doctors' offices

05-Jun-2014 - Patients trying to navigate today's complex medical system with its costly laboratory analyses might prefer a pain-free home diagnostic device, worn on the wrist, that can analyze, continuously record and immediately remedy low electrolyte levels.Runners, athletes in other strenuous sports and ...

Kinked nanopores slow DNA passage for easier sequencing

Sandia self-assembly and atomic-layer deposition improve process fivefold

04-Aug-2010 - In an innovation critical to improved DNA sequencing, a markedly slower transmission of DNA through nanopores has been achieved by a team led by Sandia National Laboratories researchers. Solid-state nanopores sculpted from silicon dioxide are generally straight, tiny tunnels more than a thousand ...

Magnetic mixing creates quite a stir

Sandia researcher solves problem of mixing liquids in tiny volumes

03-Nov-2009 - Sandia researchers have developed a process that can mix tiny volumes of liquid, even in complicated spaces. Researchers currently use all types of processes to try and create mixing, with only "mixed" success. "In small devices," says Sandia materials scientist Jim Martin "people have tried all ...

Team develops new metamaterial device

Solid-state metamaterial device tames terahertz frequency

26-Feb-2009 - An engineered metamaterial proved it can function as a state-of-the-art device in the complex terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum, setting a standard of performance for modulating tiny waves of radiation, according to a team of researchers from Boston College, the Los Alamos and ...

LLNL researchers create tool to monitor nuclear reactors

14-Mar-2008 - International inspectors may have a new tool in the form of an antineutrino detector, that could help them peer inside a working nuclear reactor. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory-Sandia National Laboratories' team recently demonstrated that the operational status and thermal power of ...

Asian Biosafety Practices Fall Short of International Standards

14-Aug-2006 - A report recently released by Sandia National Laboratories shows that researchers in 16 Asian countries often use insufficient biosafety practices. Biosafety Level (BSL) 2 practices are often employed for research involving BSL 3 agents. Nearly two-thirds of respondents investigating Japanese ...