Researchers Confirm Low-Nickel Cathode Resists Degradation August 13, 2026 - Researchers confirmed that a radially graded, low-nickel cathode sustains reversible oxygen redox across repeated cycling, enabling high capacity with minimal degradation. This cathode could cut nickel usage in electric vehicle batteries, lowering supply risk and financial and environmental costs, while preserving energy density and lifespan. Read more »
Hidden State Precedes Superconductivity in Kagome Metal August 13, 2026 - Experiments at the ALS revealed a hidden electronic phase that breaks time-reversal symmetry before a charge-density wave forms in a kagome metal. Because hidden electronic order can compete with or shape superconductivity, this finding helps guide the search for high-temperature, unconventional superconducting materials. Read more »
Scientists Uncover How Calcite Repairs Cracks in Its Structure August 13, 2026 - Researchers uncovered how calcite repairs cracks in its structure over time. These findings could improve reservoir management for extracting resources such as geothermal energy from the Earth. Read more »
Microscopy Reveals How Early Human Diets Led to Tougher Teeth August 13, 2026 - Microscopy at the ALS revealed that nanocrystal misorientation in tooth enamel tracked major dietary shifts in primates, contributing to enamel's resilience. These structural details provide a blueprint for developing tougher, crack-resistant bioinspired materials, next-generation structural ceramics, and coatings. Read more »
Burning Questions: How Heat Shield Materials Evolve Under Extreme Heat August 11, 2026 - Superlight ablator materials are critical for protecting spacecraft under the extreme heat of atmospheric reentry. Researchers combined in situ X-ray microcomputed tomography at the ALS with super-resolution techniques to characterize the microstructural evolution of these materials during heating. Read more »
Powering Science: How SYNAPS-I Builds on Meta’s Open Source AI July 21, 2026 - SYNAPS-I, a DOE initiative led by Berkeley Lab, unites 60 researchers across five labs to speed up X-ray and neutron data analysis using AI. Because prepublication data must stay on secure government systems, open-source models from Meta — SAM 3 and DINOv3 — let the team fine-tune cutting-edge AI entirely in-house. Read more »
Revealing the Electronic Signature of Unusual Magnetism June 9, 2026 - Experiments at the ALS showed how magnetic Co atoms sandwiched between TaS2 layers reshape the material’s electronic structure. Understanding how unusual magnetic order influences electron movements in new quantum material CoxTaS2 could guide its use in advanced quantum technologies based on spintronics and valleytronics. Read more »
X-Ray Magnetometer Advances Characterization of Magnetic Nanofilms June 9, 2026 - Using X-ray interferometry at the ALS, researchers characterized key optical and functional properties of magnetic materials with high sensitivity. This novel magnetometer scheme could accelerate discovery of magnetic thin film materials with broad applications across modern technology. Read more »
Multiscale X-Ray Measurements Reveal How Stretchable Polymer Semiconductors Dissipate Stress April 28, 2026 - Using multimodal, in situ measurements at the ALS, researchers uncovered a two-stage process for how stretchable polymer semiconductors adapt their structure during stretching. The findings establish a multiscale design framework for conjugated polymers used in stretchable electronic devices. Read more »
A New Framework for Designing Synthetic Enzymes April 27, 2026 - Researchers engineered protein-like polymers that replicate complex enzyme functions. This work, which was verified using X-ray characterization techniques at the ALS, offers a cost-effective, scalable approach that paves the way for functional materials in biomedicine, energy, and manufacturing. Read more »