ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — 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. Researchers have hypothesized why the devices fail, but direct evidence has been sparse. Now, […]
Category Archives: Materials Science
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Setting gold and platinum standards where few have gone before
June 24, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine — generator of the world’s most powerful electrical pulses — and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility — the planet’s most energetic laser source — in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at […]
Using a mineral ‘sponge’ to catch uranium
June 9, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A team of researchers from Sandia, Lawrence Berkeley and Pacific Northwest national laboratories tested a “sponge-like” mineral that can “soak up” uranium at a former uranium mill near Rifle, Colorado. The researchers found that the mineral, calcium apatite, soaks up and binds uranium from the groundwater, reducing it by more than ten-thousandfold. […]
Experimental Impact Mechanics Lab at Sandia bars none
May 25, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There’s a tiny hidden gem at Sandia National Laboratories that tests the strength and evaluates the impact properties of any solid natural or manmade material on the planet. From its humble beginnings as a small storage room, mechanical engineer Bo Song has built a singular Experimental Impact Mechanics Lab that packs a […]
Thin explosive films provide snapshot of how detonations start
March 4, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Using thin films — no more than a few pieces of notebook paper thick — of a common explosive chemical, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories studied how small-scale explosions start and grow. Sandia is the only lab in the U.S. that can make such detonatable thin films. These experiments advanced fundamental knowledge […]
Black engineer awards expand Sandia Labs spotlight
March 3, 2021 – 11:11 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ten Sandia National Laboratories engineers received Black Engineer of the Year Awards, including Most Promising Scientist, Modern Technology Leaders and Science Spectrum Trailblazers. Honorees include Sandia systems, chemical, computer, electrical, petroleum, manufacturing and mechanical engineers who excel in their respective fields, powering innovation while flexing their technological muscles for U.S. national security. […]
Advanced materials in a snap
January 5, 2021 – 10:03 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If everything moved 40,000 times faster, you could eat a fresh tomato three minutes after planting a seed. You could fly from New York to L.A. in half a second. And you’d have waited in line at airport security for that flight for 30 milliseconds. Thanks to machine learning, designing materials for […]
Material found in house paint may spur technology revolution
October 14, 2020 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — The development of a new method to make non-volatile computer memory may have unlocked a problem that has been holding back machine learning and has the potential to revolutionize technologies like voice recognition, image processing and autonomous driving. A team from Sandia National Laboratories, working with collaborators from the University of Michigan, […]
50 million artificial neurons to facilitate machine-learning research at Sandia
October 2, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fifty million artificial neurons — a number roughly equivalent to the brain of a small mammal — were delivered from Portland, Oregon-based Intel Corp. to Sandia National Laboratories last month, said Sandia project leader Craig Vineyard. The neurons will be assembled to advance a relatively new kind of computing, called neuromorphic, based […]
Basic laws of physics spruce up machine learning
August 6, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A proposed project to help scientists use the laws of physics to view multiscale physical events with a clarity never before achieved has won an Early Career Research Program award from the Department of Energy for Sandia National Laboratories researcher Nathaniel Trask. Such work may require observations over a millionfold change in […]
Company moves metals characterization technology forward with help from Sandia Labs
May 20, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When a small business needed help proving that its invention, a tabletop laser system, could characterize metals faster and more easily than current equipment, they turned to Sandia National Laboratories’ expertise in metals characterization. Sandia’s testing verified that Albuquerque-based Advanced Optical Technologies’ patented Crystallographic Polarization-Classification Imaging, or CPCI, process reduces time spent […]
Radiation-detecting plastic gets ingredient to stay in the clear
April 30, 2020 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have identified a straightforward change to the formula for radiation-detecting plastic. The change prevents “fogging,” which reduces the lifetime of the plastics used to detect nuclear material transiting through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s radiation detectors. The change also fits well into existing manufacturing processes for […]
A material benefit to society, Sandia scientist elected AAAS fellow
February 3, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A perennial inventor of advanced materials has been elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Sandia National Laboratories senior scientist Tina Nenoff was bestowed the honor by her peers for the advancement of science “in service to society” and “for outstanding accomplishments in nanoporous materials and technology through […]
Sandia Fellow wins nuclear fusion award
January 16, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories Fellow Keith Matzen has been awarded the 2019 Distinguished Career Award by Fusion Power Associates, a national nonprofit research and educational foundation, for his many contributions to the laboratory development of nuclear fusion. The foundation annually brings together senior U.S. and international fusion experts to review the status of […]
Sandia establishes collaborative research facility for low-temperature plasmas
December 20, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is setting up a collaborative facility to help researchers worldwide study low-temperature plasmas, the most pervasive state of matter in the universe. The 5-year, $5.5 million project, called the Sandia Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility, is sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Participants will be selected […]