(AGENPARL) – ven 01 marzo 2024 A weekly compendium of media reports on science and technology achievements
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Though the Laboratory reviews
items for overall accuracy, the reporting organizations are responsible for
the content in the links below.
….. LLNL Report, March 1, 2024
LLNL has developed a new solid-state electrolyte that is a safer alternative
the current technology in lithium-ion batteries. Image by Adobe Stock.
… A new take on lithium ion batteries
https://www.mining.com/scientists-develop-non-flammable-electrolyte-for-lithium-metal-batteries/
Using computational science, researchers at the Korea Institute of Science
and Technology (KIST) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have
developed a fluorine-substituted high-voltage stable chloride-based
solid-state electrolyte.
This new material is expected to be non-flammable and a safer alternative to
liquid electrolytes commonly found in lithium-ion batteries.
To improve the high-voltage stability of chloride-based solid electrolyte,
the research team proposed the optimal composition and design principle of
chloride-based solid electrolyte substituted with fluorine, which has strong
chemical bonding ability.
For the proposed strategy to achieve this goal, LLNL contributed by utilizing
their supercomputing resources for calculations and subsequent experimental
validations were conducted at KIST. The collaborative research team adopted a
cost-effective and time-saving strategy, wherein computational science guides
the initial material design, followed by rigorous laboratory validation.
Read More
https://www.mining.com/scientists-develop-non-flammable-electrolyte-for-lithium-metal-batteries/
An artist’s view of small-diameter carbon nanotubes that pass through water
molecules (red and white) and reject ions (blue). High permselectivity of
small-diameter nanotubes can enable advanced water desalination technologies.
illustration concept: A. Noy, T. A. Pham, Y. Li, Z. Li, F. Aydin (LLNL).
Illustration by Ella Maru Studios.
… Small pores pack big punch https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=40759
Vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VaCNT) membranes can be used to clean or
desalinate water with a high flow rate and low pressure. Recently,
researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)  and Lawrence
Livermore conducted steroid hormone adsorption experiments to investigate the
interaction of forces in microscopic pores.
They discovered that VaCNTs with certain pore geometry and surface structure
are suitable for use as highly selective membranes.
In studies using steroid micropollutants, KIT researchers investigated why
VaCNT membranes make excellent water filters. They utilized membranes made by
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The finding: VaCNT’s low
adsorption, or surface deposition, is useful for highly selective membranes
that target specific molecules.
At LLNL, Francesco Fornasiero and his colleagues created the membranes. The
most recent analytical equipment at KIT was used to conduct and assess the
micropollutant tests.
Read More https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=40759
Microbe models leverage extensive genomic data to power soil carbon
simulations. Illustration by Victor O. Leshyk.
… Getting to the root of the matter

Unlocking the Secrets of Soil Microbes to Improve Climate Predictions

Climate models are essential to predicting and addressing climate change, but
can fail to adequately represent soil microbes, a critical player in
ecosystem soil carbon sequestration that affects the global carbon cycle.
A team of scientists led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) and including Lawrence Livermore researchers has developed a new model
that incorporates genetic information from microbes. This new model enables
the scientists to better understand how certain soil microbes efficiently
store carbon supplied by plant roots, and could inform agricultural
strategies to preserve carbon in the soil in support of plant growth and
climate change mitigation.
This new observation provides a basis for improving how root-microbe
interactions are represented in models, and enhances the ability to predict
how microbes impact changes to the global carbon cycle in climate models.**
Read More

Unlocking the Secrets of Soil Microbes to Improve Climate Predictions

As described in the paper, the LLNL team, along with their collaborators from
Harvard University, North Carolina State University, and the University of
Pennsylvania, used a direct ink writing printing technique to build a variety
of light-responsive objects, including cylinders that could roll, asymmetric
“crawlers” that could go forward, and lattice structures that oscillated.
By combining shape morphing with photoresponsivity, researchers said the new
type of material could change the way people think about machines and
materials. Photos courtesy: Michael Ford/LLNL.
… Shapeshifting comes to light
https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/50189-are-shapeshifting-soft-machines-in-our-future
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have furthered a new
type of soft material that can change shape in response to light, a discovery
that could advance “soft machines” for a variety of fields, from robotics
to medicine.
The novel material, called a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE), is made by
incorporating liquid crystals into the molecular structure of a stretchable
material. Adding gold nanorods to the LCE material, scientists and engineers
created photo-responsive inks and 3D printed structures that could be made to
bend, crawl, and move when exposed to a laser that causes localized heating
in the material. The results were recently published online by the journal/
Matter/.
As described in the paper, the LLNL team, along with their collaborators from
Harvard University, North Carolina State University and the University of
Pennsylvania, used a direct ink writing printing technique to build a variety
of light-responsive objects, including cylinders that could roll, asymmetric
“crawlers” that could go forward, and lattice structures that oscillated.
By combining shape morphing with photoresponsivity, researchers said the new
type of material could change the way people think about machines and
materials.**
Read More
https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/50189-are-shapeshifting-soft-machines-in-our-future
Lawrence Livermore is participating in a project that would explore wind
energy technologies off the New England coast. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
… Bring on the wind
https://www.windtech-international.com/projects-and-contracts/wind-forecast-project-explores-offshore-wind-energy-near-new-england
The Wind Forecast Improvement Project 3 (WFIP3) is venturing into offshore
wind energy exploration off the New England coast. The project seeks to
address the complexities of forecasting offshore winds.
The project is deploying instruments across six land-based sites, with
Argonne instrumentation at Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod, Nantucket Island
and Rhode Island. A barge, equipped with instrumentation, will soon be moored
in the waters where offshore wind turbines are being installed.
The instrumentation will provide detailed ocean observations from the surface
to the top of the boundary layer. These observations will be crucial in
refining and validating forecast models, ultimately advancing the
understanding of offshore wind energy resources.
The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy
Technology Office, with the federal team including Argonne National
Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as well as the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The non-federal partner team
is led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and includes several
university partners.
Read More
https://www.windtech-international.com/projects-and-contracts/wind-forecast-project-explores-offshore-wind-energy-near-new-england
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