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Highly Selective Methane to Methanol Conversion on Inverse SnO2/Cu2O/Cu(111) Catalysts: Unique Properties of SnO2 Nanostructures and the Inhibition of the Direct Oxidative Combustion of Methane

Inverse catalysts generally consist of oxide nanoparticles supported on metal substrates, which can exhibit exceptional catalytic properties. The small SnO2 nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on a Cu2O/Cu(111) substrate enabled a unique SnO2–Cu2O interface that can completely convert methane to methanol directly under the environments of oxygen and water. Read more »

Scientists Grow Lead-Free Solar Material With a Built-In Switch

A new ferroelectric material—grown in the lab from cesium germanium tribromide (CGB)—opens the door to an easier approach to making solar cell devices. Unlike conventional solar materials, CGB crystals are inherently polarized, where one side of the crystal builds up positive charges and the other side builds up negative charges, no doping required. Read more »

Multilayer Stack Opens Door to Low-Power Electronics

Researchers found that a multilayer stack of ultrathin materials exhibits a phenomenon called negative capacitance, which reduces the voltage required for transistor operation. The material is fully compatible with today’s silicon-based technology and is capable of reducing power consumption without sacrificing transistor size or performance. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

2022 User Meeting Highlights

The ALS User Meeting was held August 15–17, 2022, co-chaired by UEC members Hope Michelsen, Yu He, and Rourav Basak. With Steve Kevan’s retirement and the approaching ALS-U implementation phase, the overarching theme of this year’s User Meeting was a celebration of the glorious past and anticipation of a very bright future. Read more »

ALS in the News (August 2022)

An Expanded Set of DNA Building Blocks for 3D Lattices

Researchers studied 36 DNA-based molecular junctions and discovered factors that yield superior self-assembled 3D lattice structures. The work expands the set of building blocks for lattices that can scaffold molecules into regular arrays, from proteins for structure studies to nanoparticles for nano-antennas and single-particle sensors. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

Protein Structures Aren’t Set in Stone

A group of researchers studying the world’s most abundant protein, an enzyme involved in photosynthesis called rubisco, showed how evolution can lead to a surprising diversity of molecular assemblies that all accomplish the same task. The findings reveal the possibility that many of the proteins we thought we knew actually exist in other, unknown shapes. Read more »

Disorder Drives Long-Range Order in “Tetris Ice” Nanomagnet Arrays

Long-range ordering is typically associated with a decrease in disorder, or entropy. Yet, it can also be driven by increasing entropy in certain special cases. In a recent DOE-funded study, researchers demonstrated that certain artificial spin-ice arrays—nanomagnets lithographically patterned to form Tetris-like shapes—can produce such entropy-driven order. Read more »

Deep-Learning AI Program Accurately Predicts Key Rotavirus Protein Fold

Rotaviruses are the major causative agents of gastroenteritis worldwide. Attempts to design vaccines are complicated by the rotaviruses’ enormous genetic and immunological diversity. At the ALS, researchers validated the novel structure of a key rotavirus protein, predicted using AlphaFold2, a deep-learning artificial-intelligence program. Read more »