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Novel ORNL technique enables air-stable water droplet networks

Posted at 12:25 pm May 30, 2014
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Water Droplet

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method to create air-stable water droplet networks that are valuable for applications in biological sensing and membrane research. (Image credit: Kyle Kuykendall)

 

A simple new technique to form interlocking beads of water in ambient conditions could prove valuable for applications in biological sensing, membrane research, and harvesting water from fog.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method to create air-stable water droplet networks known as droplet interface bilayers. These interconnected water droplets have many roles in biological research because their interfaces simulate cell membranes. Cumbersome fabrication methods, however, have limited their use.

“The way they’ve been made since their inception is that two water droplets are formed in an oil bath then brought together while they’re submerged in oil,” said ORNL’s Pat Collier, who led the team’s study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Otherwise they would just pop like soap bubbles.”

Instead of injecting water droplets into an oil bath, the ORNL research team experimented with placing the droplets on a superhydrophobic surface infused with a coating of oil. The droplets aligned side by side without merging. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: air, Air Force Office of Scientific Research Basic Research Initiative, biological research, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, CNMS, DOE, droplet interface bilayers, Georgios Polizos, Jonathan Boreyko, lipid bilayer, lipids, Nanoscale Science Research Centers, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Science, oil bath, oil film, oil-infused surface, ORNL, Panos Datskos, Pat Collier, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Stephen Sarles, SunShot Initiative, superhydrophobic surface, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, water droplet networks, water droplets

‘Atomic switcheroo’ explains origins of thin-film solar cell mystery

Posted at 10:40 am May 4, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Current Maps

Cross-sectional electron beam-induced current maps show the difference in cadmium telluride solar cells before (pictured above) and after (below) cadmium chloride treatment. The increased brightness after treatment indicates higher current collection at the grain boundaries. (Submitted photo)

Treating cadmium-telluride (CdTe) solar cell materials with cadmium-chloride improves their efficiency, but researchers have not fully understood why. Now, an atomic-scale examination of the thin-film solar cells led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has answered this decades-long debate about the materials’ photovoltaic efficiency increase after treatment.

A research team from ORNL, the University of Toledo, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory used electron microscopy and computational simulations to explore the physical origins of the unexplained treatment process. The results are published in Physical Review Letters, or PRL.

Thin-film CdTe solar cells are considered a potential rival to silicon-based photovoltaic systems because of their theoretically low cost per power output and ease of fabrication. Their comparatively low historical efficiency in converting sunlight into energy, however, has limited the technology’s widespread use, especially for home systems. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Andrew Lupini, cadmium-chloride, cadmium-telluride, CdTe, cell efficiency, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Chen Li, chlorine, CNMS, DOE, energy, Grain-Boundary-Enhanced Carrier Collection in CdTe Solar Cells, Jonathan Poplawsky, Mark Oxley, Mowafak Al-Jassim, Naba Paudel, Nanoscale Science Research Centers, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL, NSRC, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Ohio Research Scholar Program, ORNL, Physical Review Letters, PRL, Sarah Haigh, solar cell, Stephen Pennycook, sunlight, SunShot Initiative, tellurium, Timothy Pennycook, U.S. Department of Energy, UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Tennessee, University of Toledo, Vanderbilt University, Wanjian Yin, Yanfa Yan, Yelong Wu

UT names solar nanotechnology expert, ORNL deputy as Governor’s Chair

Posted at 12:05 pm July 8, 2013
By University of Tennessee Leave a Comment

Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Ramamoorthy Ramesh

KNOXVILLE—Ramamoorthy Ramesh, an authority in the physics of functional materials, has been named the 12th University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair. He has also been appointed as deputy director for science and technology at ORNL.

Ramesh will serve as Governor’s Chair for Nanomaterials Engineering, based in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He began on June 1. [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ferroelectric Random Access Memories, functional materials, Governor's Chair for Nanomaterials Engineering, Humboldt Senior Scientist Prize, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Academy of Engineering, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, physics, Ramamoorthy Ramesh, science, Solar Energy Technologies Program, SunShot Initiative, technology, thin film technology, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, UC Berkeley, University of California, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor's Chair, UT

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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