Science for our
Nation's
Energy Future

Energy Frontier Research Center

Community Website
Frontiers in
Energy Research
Newsletter
Frontiers in Energy Research: Winter 2021 Newsletter
  • Kindle Williams

    Many of us are taught in secondary school about catalysts: “substances that speed up a chemical reaction without being consumed.” In the world around us, catalysis is present in many forms, from heterogeneous catalysts used in the processing of fossil fuels, to electrocatalysts in hydrogen fuel cells, to the enzymes in our own bodies.

    Read more
Feature Articles
  • Elias Nakouzi

    The molecules in that glass of water next to you are quite active! They move around, interact, and react with each other, and collectively form the liquid we all know and cherish. However, things get even more complicated when water molecules are within a couple nanometers of a solid surface.

  • Haley Williams

    If you have ever eaten a salt and vinegar potato chip or put tangy ketchup on your fries, you are familiar with the pairing of acidity and salt. In addition to being flavors that pack a punch when combined, acidity and salt are two basic chemistry concepts that can be curiously related.

  • Katie McCullough

    We interact with artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) algorithms on a day-to-day basis, from image and voice recognition to predicting fraudulent credit transactions.

  • Leah M. Rader Bowers

    Most chemical reactions involving the breaking and making of carbon–carbon (C–C) or carbon–nitrogen, carbon–oxygen (C–N, C–O) bonds cost a lot of energy. The introduction of a catalyst lowers the energy required to complete a catalytic cycle and speed up the rate of reaction.

Research Highlights

Nancy M. Washton and Jeffrey G. Holmes, Co-editors-in-Chief

 

Editorial Board
 

  • Kindle Williams, Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME)
  • Elias Nakouzi, Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials (IDREAM)
  • Haley Williams, Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes (FUTURE)
  • Katie McCullough, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Leah M. Rader Bowers, Bioinspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC)
  • Muna Saber, Synthetic Control Across Length-scales for Advancing Rechargeables (SCALAR)
  • Nicole Avakyan, Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales (CSSAS)
  • Yongtao Liu, Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM)
  • Luis E. Betancourt, Molten Salts in Extreme Environment (MSEE)
  • Matthew S. Christian, Center for Hierarchical Waste form Materials (CHWM)
Disclaimer: The opinions in this newsletter are those of the individual authors and do not represent the views or position of the Department of Energy.