MRCAT Research Highlights The scientific work performed at the MRCAT sector is broadly materials oriented. The main emphasis is on in-situ studies of materials by x-ray spectroscopy. There is a strong environmental science component to the research. These are the MRCAT highlights from annual APS reports.

2018

• Forging the Links to Building Better Metal Oxides
  
• Extending Non-resonant Valence-to-Core Emission Spectroscopy to Niobium Chemistry
  

2017

• A Nanocomposite Anode for Better Batteries?
  
• Why Zinc Makes Platinum a Better Catalyst
  
• How a Virus Earned Its Nanorod-Synthesizing Stripes
  
• Bridging the Gap in Dual Metal Nanowires
  

2016

• Electrode options for Li-ion Batteries
  
• Transforming How We Light the World
  
• Improving the Braids that Bind Uranium from Seawater
  
• Tracking the Active Copper Sites in a Catalytic Material
  
• Carbon-Encapsulated Iron particles for Less Expensive, More Efficient Fuel Cells
  
• Reducing the Underground Migration of Uranium
  

2015

• The Conditions for Dopant Activation in Tin-Doped Gallium Oxide
  
• Putting the Squeeze on Porous Materials
  
• Natural Organic Matter Fails to Make More Mercury Cling to Bacteria
  
• Lattice Strain and Strain Relaxation Produce Nano "Dumbells
  

2014

• Hydrogen Adsorption on Shape-Shifting Platinum Nanoparticles
  
• Who Shrunk the Catalyst?
  
• Designing Better See-Through Contacts for Displays and Solar Power.
  
• Probing Nanostructures in Steel Alloys.
  

2013

• Building Better Cathodes for Rechargeable, Earth-Friendly Batteries
  
• Building Better Catalysts for Splitting Water
  
• A Bimetallic Catalyst that Helps Turn Plants into Plastic
  
• Fueling Surface Studies for Catalytic Science
  
• Gauging the Levels of Strontium in Rusted Pipes
  

2012

• Bacterial Defenses Against Quantum Dots and Released Toxic Metals
  
• Engineering Nanocrystal-Based Functional Materials
  

2011

• How Subsurface Bacteria Breathe Affects Uranium Mobility and Dispersal
  

2010

• Revealing the Secrets of Chemical Bath Deposition
  
• A Beneficial Transformation of Uranium in the Groundwater
  

2009

• Airing the Laundry: What Happens to Silver Nanoparticles in the Wash?
  

2008

• Bringing Ancient Cultures to Light
  
• Ship-in-a-Bottle Catalysts
  

2007

• Reducing Uranium Waste
  

2006

• Ironite: A Potentially Fertile Source of Soil Contamination
  
• The Evolution of Uranyl into a Organic-Rich Calcite
  
• Is Carbon the Key to Improving the Efficiency of Fuel Cells?
  
• X-Ray Analysis for Better Optical Storage Materials
  

2005

• SAMMS Soak Up Toxic Actinides to Benefit the Environment
  
• Iron on the Brain
  
• Bimetallic Nanoparticles Parallel Bulk Alloying Characteristics
  

2004

• Toward Superconducting Wires
  
• Local Structure around Chromium Ions in Aqueous Acetate Solutions
  

2003

• X-ray Scattering Study of Shear Effects on Interfacial Structure in Liquids
  
• Local Structure of Magnetoresistive Oxides
  
• Refining the Way Catalysts Are Made
  

2002

• X-ray Scattering Reveals the Structure of Liquids Near Solid-Liquid Interfaces
  
• In Situ XAFS of Cu-ZSM-5 NO_x-Reduction Catalysts