Energy Science
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Researchers Led by Stanford Engineer Figure Out How to Make More Efficient Fuel Cells
Using high-brilliance X-rays, researchers track the process that fuel cells use to produce electricity, knowledge that will help make large-scale alternative energy power systems more practical and reliable.
Solving Big Questions Requires Big Computation
Understanding the origins of our solar system, the future of our planet or humanity requires complex calculations run on high-power computers.
A New Way to Harness Waste Heat
A new battery design harnesses waste heat in a four-step process: heating, charging, cooling and discharging.
'Smart Window' Material May Make Better Batteries
Windows that darken to filter out sunlight in response to electric current, function much like batteries. Now, X-ray studies at SLAC provide a crystal-clear view into how this color-changing material behaves in a working battery – information that could benefit next-generation rechargeable batteries.
Scientists Discover Potential Way to Make Graphene Superconducting
Scientists have discovered a potential way to make graphene – a single layer of carbon atoms with great promise for future electronics – superconducting, a state in which it would carry electricity with 100 percent efficiency.
Scientists Say New Catalyst Could Lead to Clean, Low-Cost Methanol Production
An international research team has discovered a potentially clean, low-cost way to convert carbon dioxide into methanol, a key ingredient in the production of plastics, adhesives and solvents, and a promising fuel for transportation.
New ‘Pomegranate-inspired’ Design Solves Problems for Lithium-Ion Batteries
An electrode designed like a pomegranate – with silicon nanoparticles clustered like seeds in a tough carbon rind – overcomes several remaining obstacles to using silicon for a new generation of lithium-ion batteries, say its inventors at Stanford University and the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
LAMP: A New Tool Turns On at SLAC's X-ray Laser
A 2-ton instrument the size of a compact car, now available at SLAC's X-ray laser, makes it possible to capture more detailed images of atoms, molecules, nanoscale features of solids, and individual particles such as viruses and airborne soot.
Engineers Make World's Fastest Organic Transistor, Heralding New Generation of See-through Electronics
Teams from Stanford, SLAC and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln collaborate to make thin, transparent semiconductors that could become the foundation for cheap, high-performance displays.
SLAC Researchers Team Up on Potential Fuel Cell Advance
A discovery by SLAC researchers into how chemical reactions take place on a platinum catalyst could lead to more efficient, less costly fuel cells.
