LLNL researchers have developed a method to enhance the performance of polyelectrolyte membranes by using a humidity-controlled crosslinking process which can be applied to precisely adjust the water channels of the membrane.
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![OALV design with High-k Photoconductor and High-k Optical Window](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2024-01/OALV%20design.png?itok=xMV74hXb)
LLNL researchers has developed designs to augment WBG/UWBG-based OALVs to improve their power handling capability under CW operational environments. These designs include:
![Livermore researchers support efforts to limit the need for rare-earth elements in U.S. clean-energy technologies.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-07/Reducing%20Reliance%20on%20Critical%20Materials.png?itok=IuC6bH4r)
CMI—a DOE Energy Innovation Hub—is a public/private partnership led by the Ames Laboratory that brings together the best and brightest research minds from universities, national laboratories (including LLNL), and the private sector to find innovative technology solutions to make better use of materials critical to the success of clean energy technologies as well as develop resilient and secure…
![One embodiment of a solid-state lithium-air battery based on gyroid foams.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-06/Li-Air%20Battery%20Gyroid%20Foam.jpg?itok=gPAwVj0O)
LLNL researchers have developed a new 3D printable lithium-air battery that uses a novel thin solid state ceramic electrolyte. LLNL’s invention overcomes the combined challenges of low power density and low cycle life in previously designed lithium-air batteries by using solid state electrolytes to achieve stability and multiscale structuring of the electrolyte to achieve low interfacial…
![A digital twin (right) is the virtual representation of real-world objects and processes (left)](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-06/DigitalTwin.jpg?itok=SkQtz1w4)
LLNL’s novel approach utilizes a number of techniques to improve reconstruction accuracy:
![Segments of transmission line lengths can be switched to open circuit (as shown) or shorted to the ground (not shown)](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/Segments%20of%20tranmission%20line%20lengths.png?itok=FF0qaBGw)
Design and construction of a photoconductive switch requires a diamond photoconductor illuminated by light of a certain excitation wavelength. The diamond material is specifically doped with substitutional nitrogen, which act as a source of electrons. The device architecture allows maximum light entering the aperture. The top and bottom electrodes are made of ultra wide band gap (UWBG)…
![Annular illumination on photo conductor by Conical Total Internal Reflection “CTIR” endcap](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/CONIFR.png?itok=L4wSanXF)
The approach is to use a custom-designed frustrum and attach it to the optical fiber that connects to the PCSS. Light from the fiber enters the frustrum, spreads out, and enters the PCSS. Any unabsorbed light re-enters the frustrum and, because of its geometry, reflects back into the PCSS itself with only a negligible fraction escaping from the fiber. The shape of the novel frustrum is…
![A cold-spray chamber is shown during deposition, with the nozzle at the top of the image and a near-full density sample being fabricated in the center. Particles of the brittle thermoelectric bismuth telluride are accelerated to more than 900 meters per second, or almost Mach 3, in inert gas and directed onto a copper surface, laying down the strips that form the basis of a functioning thermoelectric generator to harvest waste heat. Graphic by Jacob Long/LLNL](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2021-02/Cold%20Spray_875x500px.jpg?itok=hjM9UrWO)
![nanocomposite_aerogel.jpg nanocomposite_aerogel](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2019-08/nanocomposite_aerogel.jpg?itok=PuNPrvkg)
Livermore researchers have developed two novel TiCl4 based non-alkoxide sol-gel approaches for the synthesis of SiO2/TiO2 nanocomposite aerogels. Composite SiO2-TiO2 aerogels were obtained by epoxide-assisted gelation (EAG route) of TiCl4/DMF solution in the presence SiO2 aerogel particles. Additionally, the same TiCl4/DMF solution was employed to prepare SiO2@TiO2 aerogels by a facile one-…
![Intensification of laser in simulations and electrons being accelerated](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/intensification%20of%20laser%20in%20simulations%20and%20electrons%20being%20accelerated_875x500px.jpg?itok=bdZS_mHA)
LLNL pioneered the use of tomographic reconstruction to determine the power density of electron beams using profiles of the beam taken at a number of angles. LLNL’s earlier diagnostic consisted of a fixed number of radially oriented sensor slits and required the beam to be circled over them at a fixed known diameter to collect data. The new sensor design incorporates annular slits instead,…
![3D printed electrodes](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/3D%20printed%20electrodes.jpg?itok=HPvcODM8)
Nanomaterials that are emerging out of cutting edge nanotechnology research are a key component for an energy revolution. Carbon-based nanomaterials are ushering in the "new carbon age" with carbon nanotubes, nanoporous carbons, and graphene nanosheets that will prove necessary to provide sustainable energy applications that lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.
Carbon aerogels (CAs)…
![Batteryless Sensor](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/batteryless%20sensor.jpg?itok=OiEAlv22)
Chemical and biological sensors based on nanowire or nanotube technologies exhibit observable ultrasensitive detection limits due to their unusually large surface-to-volume architecture. This suggests that nanosensors can provide a distinct advantage over conventional designs. This advantage is further enhanced when the nanosensor can harvest its meager power requirements from the surrounding…
![OTV Image](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-02/OTV%20Image.png?itok=KEAmHqpM)
The Optical Transconductance Varistor (OTV, formerly Opticondistor) overcomes depletion region voltage limitations by optically exciting wide bandgap materials in a compact package. A 100μm thick crystal could have the capability approaching 40kV and would replace numerous equivalent junction devices. Thus, unlike present junction transistors or diodes, this wide bandgap device can be stacked…
![3D printed electrodes](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/3D%20printed%20electrodes.jpg?itok=HPvcODM8)
LLNL has developed novel nanoporous carbon materials for the surface-stress-induced actuator technology. The morphology of these materials has been designed to combine high surface area and mechanical strength. The process allows for the fabrication of large monolithic pieces with low densities and high structural integrity. One actuation technology relies on electrochemically- induced changes…