Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A supramolecular ink technology could be a game changer for the OLED display industry
Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of the new 2D nanosheet as a barrier coating that self-assembles on a variety of substrates, including a Teflon beaker and membrane, polyester film, thick and thin silicon films, and glass. The TEM experiments were conducted at UC Berkeley’s Electron Microscope Laboratory. (Credit: Emma Vargo et al./Berkeley Lab. Images courtesy of Nature.)
Heading for sustainable manufacturing by scaling up self-assembling nanosheets
Researchers at Berkeley Lab have used bacteria to bring biorenewability to recyclable plastics. Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab
Infinitely Recyclable Plastics
Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) uses naturally occurring underground water to store energy that can be used to heat and cool buildings. (Credit: (Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab))
Could the solution to green heating and cooling be underground water?
Chen Fang holds a vial (left) containing a current collector copper foil from a battery that has been completely freed of valuable electrode components after the Quick-Release Binder dissolved, and another vial (right) where the binder is actively dissolving in alkaline water. In comparison, conventional binders strongly bind electrode materials onto current collectors like a glue, which makes separation and thus recycling of battery electrode materials difficult. (Credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab)
A material that will make it simple and economical to recycle a wide range of batteries
This collage depicts elements related to ionocaloric cooling, a newly developed refrigeration cycle that researchers hope could help phase out refrigerants that contribute to global warming. CREDIT Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab
A cool new method of refrigeration: Ionocaloric cooling
UC Berkeley chemists tested their chemical process for breaking down polyethylene plastic on several types of post-consumer PE: four-pack tops, milk and shampoo bottles and plastic packaging. The yield of propylene from each is shown at the bottom. With improvements to the process, it could make a dent in the PE waste stream and provide a product in high-demand by the plastics industry without using more fossil fuels. (Photo credit: John Hartwig lab, UC Berkeley)
The ubiquitous plastic bag that blights the landscape may have finally become recyclable via a new process
Engineered living materials developed at Rice University can be customized for a variety of applications, including environmental remediation or as custom catalysts. (Credit: Sara Molinari/Ajo-Franklin Research Group)
Growing living macroscale modular materials from bacteria
Junpyo Kwon, a Ph.D. student researcher from the Xu Group at UC Berkeley, is shown holding a recyclable, biodegradable printed circuit. The advance could divert wearable devices and other flexible electronics from landfill, and mitigate the health and environmental hazards posed by heavy metal waste. Credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab
A fully recyclable and biodegradable printed circuit
Light microscopy image of nanowires, 100 to 1,000 nanometers in diameter, grown from cesium germanium tribromide (CGB) on a mica substrate. The CGB nanowires are samples of a new lead-free halide perovskite solar material that is also ferroelectric. (Credit: Peidong Yang and Ye Zhang/Berkeley Lab)
A simpler less expensive approach to solar cell manufacturing is also lead free
Carbon dioxide (depicted in red and white at left) is the main greenhouse gas warming Earth and is emitted in large quantities in the flue gas from industrial and power plants. A new method for removing CO2 from these flue gases involves piping the emissions through a porous material based on the chemical melamine (center). DETA, a chemical bound inside the porous melamine, grabs CO2 and removes it from the gas, with nitrogen vented to the atmosphere. (Image courtesy of Haiyan Mao and Jeffrey Reimer, UC Berkeley)
Could melamine big a really big help in carbon capture?
A way to generate an alternative jet fuel by harvesting an unusual carbon molecule from bacteria
Scientists turned to an oddball bacterial molecule that looks like a jaw full of sharp teeth to create a new type of fuel that could be used for all types of vehicles, including rockets. (Credit: Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab)
Using bacteria for a totally new type of fuel that has a projected energy density even greater than rocket fuel
Berkeley Lab researcher Peter Agbo was awarded a grant for a carbon capture project under the Lab’s Carbon Negative Initiative. (Credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab)
Accelerating CO2 capture in oceans with bacteria
Bacterial microcompartments are made out of proteins, represented by the colorful, wavy lines in the top figure. These icosahedral shells are empty, as shown below, and Spartan researchers have helped show how they can add enzymes of choice inside. Credit: Kerfeld Lab/PNAS
New nanofactories could lead to medicines, vitamins and more being made at lower costs