Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource

The continuing development of better lithium-ion batteries, which are common in consumer electronics, depends on improvements in the batteries’ chemical materials. Over the charge/discharge cycle of the battery, the electrochemistry and morphology of the material change, which can cause steric stresses and defects, leading to decreased battery performance. Modifications of the lithium compounds used at the cathode can help the batteries hold more charge and keep charge better over many charge/discharge cycles.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is used to coat optoelectronic technology, which includes components that create and/or detect light, x-rays, infrared, or other forms of radiation. When ZnO properly crystallizes, it creates a transparent conducting film. The performance of the film is compromised when there is disruption in nucleation and growth of ZnO. A team of scientists collaborated to study the process of electrodeposition of ZnO into films.

Lithium-ion batteries, the mobile power source for most electronic devices, play an important role in everyday life. In the coming decades, they could play an even greater role, powering electric vehicles or storing electrical energy for the grid – if researchers can find ways to improve them.

In particular, the energy density of current batteries is limited by the capacity of the positive electrode, which in turn is determined by the properties and concentration of its active material. By better understanding this material and its limitations, researchers hope to design the highest capacity electrodes possible.

Responsible, eco-friendly and sustainable use of energy is one of the biggest challenges in today’s world. Current rates of energy consumption demand the development of efficient ways to store energy, for instance in safe and durable rechargeable batteries. However, repeated charge cycles degrade batteries over time, eventually leading to their failure. Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, SSRL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have recently developed a new approach to visualize and quantify changes in battery materials during electrochemical cycling – providing crucial information for a better understanding of battery failure and potential improvements of energy storage materials.  

Earth’s inner structure is organized into layers. The outermost crust overlays the mantle, which, in turn, surrounds our planet’s core. The crust and mantle are mainly composed of silicate rocks. In contrast, Earth’s core is metallic, containing predominantly iron. But how did iron separate from the silicates in order to form the metallic core during Earth’s evolution? Researchers have recently provided evidence that the percolation of liquid iron alloys through a solid silicate matrix can explain the formation of Earth’s core.

A study, recently published in PLoS ONE by researchers from Cornell University, Hospital for Special Surgery, and SSRL, describes nanoscale visualization of micro-damage in cortical bone tissue using x-ray negative staining and synchrotron-based x-ray imaging. The first study to examine bone damage at the nanoscale using full-field x-ray imaging in cortical bone, it provides new insights into bone damage and propagation of fractures.

Olefins are the basic building blocks for many products from the petrochemical industry and are currently produced by steam cracking of naphtha or ethane, but increasing oil and gas prices are driving the industry toward producing olefins from syngas derived from cheaper feedstocks via the Fischer-Tropsch process instead. A team of scientists used full-field Transmission hard X-ray Microscopy (TXM) and a special reactor designed and built at SSRL and installed on SSRL Beam Line 6-2 to learn more about the catalyst at the heart of the Fischer-Tropsch-to-Olefins (FTO) process.

Dramatic improvements in energy storage devices are essential to meet the increasing need to move away from fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable energy. Rechargeable lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries hold great potential for high-performance energy storage systems because they have a high theoretical specific energy, low cost, and are eco-friendly; but a better understanding of how the battery functions is required to design improvements for higher efficiency and capacity.

Rice, the grain that provides more than one-fifth of the world population's calories, can become a health hazard if contaminated with arsenic. Such contamination, a surprisingly widespread occurrence, takes place in areas where soil or irrigation water is tainted by naturally occurring arsenic--including broad swaths of south and southeastern Asia. Studies have suggested that the natural iron coating around the roots of rice plants may serve as an important barrier to arsenic uptake because arsenic in its oxidized form has an affinity for iron. A team of Stanford and SSRL researchers recently sought to learn just how significant a barrier iron provides.

As cell phones, computers, and other electronic equipment have become part of our daily lives, so too have integrated circuits.  Also known as microchips, these semiconductors patterned with trace elements serve as the brains of electronic devices, controlling processes, storing data, and converting information from digital to analog, to name only a few applications.  With their increasing prevalence, however, comes the increasing prevalence of malicious attacks.  Integrated circuits are susceptible to "hardware Trojans" that can be inserted during production, testing, or distribution to cause failure or compromise the circuit.