Skip to main content
  • DOE Home
  • SC Home
  • Contact
Energy Frontier Research Center | Community Website
Science For Our Nation's Energy Future
  • Newsletter
    • Current Newsletter
    • Archive
    • About
  • Meetings
    • Meetings Overview
    • 2011 Summit
    • 2013 Meeting
    • 2015 Meeting
    • 2017 Meeting
    • 2019 Meeting
    • 2021 Meeting
  • Contests
    • Contests Overview
    • Graphic Art
    • Podcast
    • Poetry
    • Word Challenge
    • Video
    • Video II
  • BES ECN
    • BES ECN Overview
    • Representative
    • Events
  • For EFRC Members
  • Log in
Frontiers in
Energy Research
Newsletter
Editorial Boards
Sallye Gathmann, Center for Programmable Energy Catalysis (CPEC)
Shunda Chen, Manipulation of Atomic Ordering for Manufacturing Semiconductors (µ-ATOMS)
Zachary Diermyer, Multi-scale Fluid-Solid Interactions in Architected and Natural Materials (MUSE)
Linu Malakkal, Center for Thermal Energy Transport under Irradiation (TETI)
Zirui Mao, Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials (CHWM)
Haylea Nisbet, Geo-processes in Mineral Carbon Storage (GMCS)
Andrea Hwang, Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes (FUTURE)
Xavier Krull, Catalyst Design for Decarbonization Center (CD4DC)
Matthew Emerson, Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE)
Arthur Shih, Hydrogen in Energy and Information Sciences (HEISs)
Yongtao Liu, 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM)
Spring 2023

Newsletter Issue Featured Article

radionuclide
Revolutionizing Nuclear Waste Management: Treating the Nuclear Waste Stream for Contamination-Free Discharge
Zirui Mao

Nuclear energy is one of the most reliable sources of electricity for human needs. Small modular reactors (SMRs) have been identified as an important component to the future of nuclear energy because of their advantages in scalability, siting flexibility, safety, and security. However, SMRs generate a higher amount of spent nuclear fuel and associated radioactive waste, when normalized to electricity generation, as compared to conventional nuclear power plants.

Read More

Feature Articles

  • image
    EFRC: Thermal Energy Transport Under Irradiation (TETI): Predicting Thermal Energy Transport in Actinide Materials in Extreme Environments

    Dr. Linu Malakkal

    Heat transfer is essential to our daily life—from heating a pot of water to complex carbon-free energy technologies that aim to achieve zero carbon emissions. Examples of these technologies include concentrated solar power generation, thermoelectric generation, and nuclear power generation.

    Read more
  • geopolymer
    Self-Driving Microscope Accelerates Physics Discoveries

    Yongtao Liu

    Ancient civilizations are defined by the predominant materials used to make tools, i.e., Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, indicating the importance of materials for life and civilization. Until the late twentieth century, humans mainly used natural materials. In the last century, materials science has rapidly emerged as one of the most important research fields, resulting in a diverse array of human-made materials.

    Read more
  • u-atoms
    µ-ATOMS Center Established to Understand Fundamentals of Atomic Ordering in Semiconductors

    Dr. Shunda Chen

    The newly established Manipulation of Atomic Ordering for Manufacturing Semiconductors (µ-ATOMS) Energy Frontier Research Center aims to discover the fundamental principles determining the ordering of atoms in semiconductor alloys and how ordering affects material properties. Semiconductors are widely used in electronic devices such as transistors in smartphones and computers, solar cells, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) due to their unique electronic properties.

    Read more
  • nisbet
    Trapped in Minerals Underground: The Future for CO2?

    Haylea Nisbet

    Scientists have determined that atmospheric CO2 levels are at an all-time high and are continuing to increase at an unprecedented rate. The consequences are rising global temperatures and sea levels and the subsequent impacts on social, ecological, and climate systems. So how can we minimize the increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere? One promising approach is to permanently store CO2 underground in minerals―a strategy that the newly funded Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), Geo-processes in Mineral Carbon Storage (GMCS), is currently investigating.

    Read more
  • LOHC
    CD4DC: an EFRC with a New Look for Hydrogen Fuels

    Xavier C. Krull

    Hydrogen is among the most abundant elements on Earth, and its energy density by mass is significantly greater than other chemical fuels. Additionally, the only byproduct of a simple hydrogen fuel cell is pure water. Amidst concern over the environmental impacts of ongoing fossil fuel usage and associated carbon dioxide emissions, these benefits are of critical interest to the energy and transportation sectors, and thus, hydrogen fuel cells have been the focus of widespread research for decades.

    Read more
  • hydrogen
    The Superpowers of Hydrogen Atoms

    Arthur Shih

    Hydrogen is simple, and hydrogen is everywhere. It makes up ~90% of the atoms in the universe and 63% of the atoms in our bodies. Hydrogen atoms are simple in that they consist of a single proton with the option of no electrons (H+, also called a proton), one electron (H0, a neutral hydrogen atom), or two electrons (H-, hydride). Despite its simplicity and omnipresence, scientists have only begun to grasp how hydrogen interacts with other elements due to its tiny mass and elusive nature.

    Read more

Research Highlights

  • Image
    Nanofluidics Research of Natural Porous Media
    Zachary Diermyer

    The dynamics of fluids confined within nanometer-sized structures (nanoconfined fluids) deviate significantly from the predicitons of classical fluid mechanics. Nanofluidics is a rapidly expanding field of research with the goal of understanding and controlling those dynamics. Nanofluidics has gained popularity because of the growing influence of nanotechnology.

    Read More
  • oligomer
    Atomistic Simulations of Molten Salt Double Layers
    Andrea Hwang

    Imagine you had a bottle of table salt, NaCl in its solid form, and heated it in a furnace until it became a liquid. This high-temperature ionic liquid is referred to as a molten salt. Molten salts are being widely explored as coolants and fuels for next generation nuclear reactors because molten salts can self-regulate the reactor and do not require high pressures to operate [3].

    Read More
  • water splitting
    EFRC Researchers Design New Catalysts that Change with Time
    Sallye Gathmann

    Did you know that many of the objects you use throughout the day were produced with the help of a catalyst? Catalysts are special materials that “speed up” chemical reactions. They are used in the production of familiar products like plastics, medicine, fertilizer, and fuels. In fact, scientists are working to develop new processes for making cost-competitive “clean” fuels, such as hydrogen (H2), which don’t emit harmful greenhouse gases like CO2. Improved catalysts will be at the heart of such processes.

    Read More
  • SME
    Focusing Down to an Atomic View of Molten Salts in Extreme Environments: Improving Clarity Through Collaboration
    Matthew S. Emerson

    With the last eight years having the hottest recorded global temperatures in history, rising global energy consumption has flashed a warning sign that is driving world leaders to invest in developing solutions for sustainable energy generation. Despite some skepticism among members of the public, nuclear energy is a reliable source of clean electricity that advocates say will play a pivotal role in the planet’s transition away from using fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas for electricity generation.

    Read More

Interviews

No Interview Selected

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

 

Editorial Board
 

  • Sallye Gathmann, Center for Programmable Energy Catalysis (CPEC)
  • Shunda Chen, Manipulation of Atomic Ordering for Manufacturing Semiconductors (µ-ATOMS)
  • Zachary Diermyer, Multi-scale Fluid-Solid Interactions in Architected and Natural Materials (MUSE)
  • Linu Malakkal, Center for Thermal Energy Transport under Irradiation (TETI)
  • Zirui Mao, Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials (CHWM)
  • Haylea Nisbet, Geo-processes in Mineral Carbon Storage (GMCS)
  • Andrea Hwang, Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes (FUTURE)
  • Xavier Krull, Catalyst Design for Decarbonization Center (CD4DC)
  • Matthew Emerson, Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE)
  • Arthur Shih, Hydrogen in Energy and Information Sciences (HEISs)
  • Yongtao Liu, 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics (3DFeM)

 

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.

Unsubscribe

Newsletter Issue Related Articles

Revolutionizing Nuclear Waste Management: Treating the Nuclear Waste Stream for Contamination-Free Discharge
EFRC: Thermal Energy Transport Under Irradiation (TETI): Predicting Thermal Energy Transport in Actinide Materials in Extreme Environments
Self-Driving Microscope Accelerates Physics Discoveries
µ-ATOMS Center Established to Understand Fundamentals of Atomic Ordering in Semiconductors
Trapped in Minerals Underground: The Future for CO2?

Research Highlights

Nanofluidics Research of Natural Porous Media
Atomistic Simulations of Molten Salt Double Layers
EFRC Researchers Design New Catalysts that Change with Time
Focusing Down to an Atomic View of Molten Salts in Extreme Environments: Improving Clarity Through Collaboration
DOE Office of Science
  • DOE Home
  • SC Home
  • Contact
Energy Frontier Research Center | Community Website
  • Newsletter
    • Current Newsletter
    • Archive
    • About
  • Meetings
    • Meetings Overview
    • 2011 Summit
    • 2013 Meeting
    • 2015 Meeting
    • 2017 Meeting
    • 2019 Meeting
    • 2021 Meeting
  • Contests
    • Contests Overview
    • Graphic Art
    • Podcast
    • Poetry
    • Word Challenge
    • Video
    • Video II
  • BES ECN
    • BES ECN Overview
    • Representative
    • Events
  • For EFRC Members
Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved.