"Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) along with international collaborators have brought us one step closer to harnessing the sun’s energy to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuel and other valuable chemicals. In a recent publication in Nature Catalysis, the researchers debut a self-contained carbon-carbon (C2) producing system that combines the catalytic power of copper with perovskite, a material used in photovoltaic solar panels. This advance builds on over 20 years of research and brings the scientific community one step...
Sam Oaks-Leaf, Ph.D. Candidate & Maria Fonseca Guzman, Ph.D. Candidate
Mechanism of Shape Symmetry Breaking in Surfactant Mediated Crystal Growth
We present a dynamical model of crystal growth, in which it is possible to reliably achieve asymmetric products, beginning from symmetric initial conditions and growing within an isotropic environment. The asymmetric growth is the result of a positive feedback mechanism that amplifies the effect of thermal fluctuations in the coverage of surfactants on the growing crystalline facets. Within our simple model, we are able to understand the kinetic and thermodynamic factors involved in both the onset of symmetry...
"Composite adhesives like epoxy resins are excellent tools for joining and filling materials including wood, metal, and concrete. But there’s one problem: once a composite sets, it’s there forever. Now there’s a better way. Researchers have developed a simple polymer that serves as a strong and stable filler that can later be dissolved. It works like a tangled ball of yarn that, when pulled, unravels into separate fibers."
"UC Berkeley researchers in chemistry and computer science recently reported on their use of an AI tool – large language models – to advance discovery in reticular chemistry and materials science."
Professor Ting Xu will take part in BAMPFA’s upcoming discussion, Plastic People, on February 9, 2025, at 1 PM. The event will explore the complex impact of plastics on society and the environment. The conversation is part of BAMPFA’s efforts to bridge science and public discourse.
"The third annual Philomathia Day took place on Friday, Jan. 31, and honored 2024 Philomathia Prize recipient Associate Professor Kwabena Bediako. The event, themed, "Quantum at the Macroscale," was an exploration of how chemists and physicists are leveraging the emergent properties of molecules and crystals."
Kristin Persson, the Daniel M. Tellep Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering at UC Berkeley, and member of the Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute was elected for pioneering data-driven materials design through the creation and stewardship of open materials databases and associated data-mining algorithms.
