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Materials science RSS feed

 SLAC develops materials to improve the performance of batteries, fuel cells and other energy technologies and set the stage for technologies of the future.

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Energy sciences

In materials hit with light, individual atoms and vibrations take disorderly paths.

News Feature

Researchers demonstrate a way to remove the potent greenhouse gas from the exhaust of engines that burn natural gas.  

Illustration of bubbles of methane on surface of catalyst
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It irons out wrinkles in thin films of these novel superconductors so scientists can see their true nature for the first time. 

Colorized electron microscope images reveal defects in the atomic structure of a nickelate superconductor (right) compared to a defect-free structure (right)
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The results offer important implications for astrophysics and nuclear fusion research.

NIF experiment
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A low-cost, recyclable powder can kill thousands of waterborne bacteria per second when exposed to sunlight. Stanford and SLAC scientists say the ultrafast disinfectant...

Four cups of water arranged in a cycle, illustrating a decontamination cycle.
Press Release

New SLAC-Stanford Battery Center bridges the gaps between discovering, manufacturing and deploying innovative energy storage solutions. 

Illustration showing a battery researcher at left, a battery at center and a grid of battery applications at right.
News Feature

A machine learning algorithm automatically extracts information to speed up – and extend – the study of materials with X-ray pulse pairs.

A pattern of red and yellow dots surrounded by a ring of blue dots on a black background.
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The award celebrates Huang’s achievements studying atom-scale physics with fast X-ray pulses.

Yijing Huang at Stanford University
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Encapsulating precious-metal catalysts in a web-like alumina framework could reduce the amount needed in catalytic converters – and our dependency on these scarce metals.

A web of red material encapsulates blue polyhedrons.
Press Release

Studying a material that even more closely resembles the composition of ice giants, researchers found that oxygen boosts the formation of diamond rain.

Diamond rain formation
News Feature

Spiraling laser light reveals how topological insulators lose their ability to conduct electric current on their surfaces.

Against a black background, thin, glowing red wires at top impinge on the hexagonal surface of a translucent mass. Small white dots travel along the edges of the surface in two directions. Within the mass, two orange cones meet at their tips.
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Waves of magnetic excitation sweep through this exciting new material whether it’s in superconducting mode or not – another possible clue to how unconventional...

A brightly colored top is seen spinning between two layers of gray, purple and red spheres representing atoms in a nickel oxide superconductor.
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Researchers discover they contain a phase of quantum matter, known as charge density waves, that’s common in other unconventional superconductors. In other ways, though...

Artist's illustration shows quantum states called superconductivity and charge density waves atop an atomic lattice of balls and sticks