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Materials Science

LLNL researchers are scaling up technology that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Big Ideas Lab podcast takes on the science of scale-up

Rechargeable lithium batteries trace back to 1972, but they wouldn’t reach consumer products until 1991. Solar photovoltaic cells existed in the 1950s, long before solar panels appeared on rooftops. And the MRI was demonstrated in the 1970s, years before the machines became hospital staples. In each case, the core scientific principles had been proven. The difficult part…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Collaborative Heavy-lift Aerial unManned Propellor Systems (CHAMPS) team participated in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Lift Challenge held in Dayton, Ohio. CHAMPS team left to right: Claire Knight, James Reimer, Marcus Worsley, Brian Wihl, Giovanna Bucci, Kenneth Entrom and Erika Ramos. Additional team members include Marissa Wood, Afolabi Olayiwola and Victoria Trang. (Photo: Garry McLeod)

LLNL CHAMPS team selected to develop a heavy-lift drone for DARPA competition

A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers pushed the limits of unmanned aerial systems to earn a place at the DARPA Lift Challenge, hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The LLNL Collaborative Heavy-lift Aerial unManned Propellor Systems (CHAMPS) team ranked among the 132 teams selected from more than 480…

TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle fuel is fully encapsulated by layers of carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of radioactive fission products. Each particle (roughly the size of a poppy seed) acts as its own containment system and is more resistant to neutron irradiation, corrosion, oxidation, and high temperatures than traditional reactor fuels.

LLNL partners with industry to advance next-generation reactor fuel

Small, modular nuclear fission reactors are emerging as a resilient energy option, offering a scalable, cost-effective path to reliable power for remote or infrastructure-limited locations. However, these advanced reactor facilities typically run hotter and longer than conventional light water reactors, so they will require a new type of nuclear fuel tough enough to…

Lawrence Livermore staff scientist and polymer chemist Johanna Schwartz leads the team for the SPOC (Studying-Polymers-On a-Chip) platform, one of six R&D 100 awards LLNL won this year. Image credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL.

Lab scientists and engineers win six R&D 100 awards

The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize…

LLNL interns contribute to mission-focused research while building technical skills and professional connections. (Photos: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Meet LLNL interns: Building skills through innovation and collaboration

Each summer, students from across the country join Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to gain hands-on experience, work alongside researchers and contribute to projects supporting the Lab’s mission. Meet four interns whose work spans emergency preparedness, artificial intelligence, actinide chemistry and additive manufacturing, and learn how their experiences…

Collage of students

PLS interns shine at the annual poster showcase

The 2026 Physical and Life Sciences (PLS) Summer Student Showcase took place on July 29 in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Library. The day-long event featured the research projects of nearly 130 student interns from across PLS’s divisions. This annual event is a great way for students to practice their science communication skills and gives them the…

Researchers at LLNL and partners at Oxylus Energy are developing an electrochemical reactor that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

LLNL, Oxylus Energy capture commercialization grant with reactor that converts carbon waste to methanol

Many industrial processes produce large volumes of carbon as a waste product. New reactor technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has the potential to turn that waste into a valuable feedstock for useful chemicals and fuels. The result could bolster domestic manufacturing, diversify supply chains and ensure lasting energy security in the U.S. These …

Battery diagram

With machine learning, LLNL researchers embrace the atomic-scale complexity of batteries

For grid-scale energy storage and national energy resilience, the U.S. needs better batteries. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are tackling that challenge in many ways, but one approach is making a significant impact: physics-informed machine learning. In two recent publications, LLNL researchers examined how integrating molecular dynamics…

LLNL scientists Dylan Kline (front) and Justin McAlister evaluate finished, mock high-explosive materials produced using a modern pharmaceutical manufacturing process called extrusion-spheronization. (Photo credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Modernizing high-explosives manufacturing

For decades, manufacturing plastic-bonded high explosives, or PBXs, has relied on legacy processes like slurry coating. In this method, explosive crystals are mixed with a binder, a polymer that helps hold the material together, to form small granules called prills. Those prills are then pressed into dense explosive parts. This process is difficult to control, inefficient…

Experiments at the National Ignition Facility used direct laser-driven compression of iron to pressure-temperature conditions relevant to Earth’s inner core, with x-ray radiography and VISAR diagnostics. Credit: Brain Chavez/LLNL and Universidad de Mendoza.

Measuring iron in motion at earth-core conditions

It was a journey to the center of the Earth, if only for the briefest of moments. But rather than tunneling thousands of miles from the Earth’s surface, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and several universities used the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to recreate those extreme temperature and pressure conditions of the Earth’s inner core…

Metal alloy

Computational Tools for Designer Alloys

Livermore-developed alloy optimization software combines a proven methodology with machine-learning processes to accelerate discovery of new alloys.

With specialized beamsplitters and precision freeform optics, scientists have generated a novel high-intensity laser that rotates like a spring. (Graphic: Brendan Thompson/LLNL)

Researchers create first-of-a-kind laser spring with LLNL’s highest-precision optics to date

When a high-intensity laser interacts with plasma, the charged particles typically oscillate back and forth like waves on the ocean. But what if the laser itself could twist like a whirlpool? Researchers have now demonstrated a rotating, spring-shaped laser pulse, opening up new possibilities for fusion energy, particle acceleration, astrophysics and beyond. In new…

Neuromorphic ionic devices have the potential to mimic the energy efficient computing found in the human brain. (Image: J. Cataldo/LLNL)

Bridging the gap between neuromorphic ionic computing and more efficient AI

The human brain is the ultimate supercomputer. It uses a highly-branched and interconnected network of neurons and synapses to achieve massive computational power with extreme efficiency. In the age of AI, the brain, a paradigm of efficient neuromorphic computing, is providing inspiration for scientists. Ionic computing — which uses ions to compute instead of the electrons…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Forensic Science Center created a novel technique to uncover traces of the Soman nerve agent, strengthening chemical forensics and OPCW investigations. FSC team left to right: Adele Panasci-Nott, Alexander Vu, Carlos Valdez, Mark Dreyer, David Cho, David Baliu-Rodriguez and Saphon Hok (Photography: Blaise Douros)

LLNL’s Forensic Science Center develops a new capability to detect chemical weapons

In the aftermath of suspected chemical attacks, investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) step in to collect chemical, environmental and biomedical samples. Thorough forensic laboratory analysis of these samples is essential for proving what — if any — chemical agents were used and verifying their identities. Researchers at Lawrence…

Alex Baker

Meet Alex Baker: Deputy Group Leader, Advanced Materials Process Science

Alex Baker wears many hats at LLNL; his roles run the gamut from project leadership to operations efforts to scientific research of his own. Being from the United Kingdom, he traveled quite a distance to get here, but it was no accident. Baker completed his PhD at Oxford University and Diamond Light Source, one of the UK’s national labs, during which he regularly visited…

As hydrogen reacts with uranium, it creates blisters (a) that burst (b) and release uranium hydride powder. The interaction results in surface degradation (c) that can impact material safety and lifetime.

Roll the tape: LLNL captures inception of hydrogen-uranium reaction for the first time

When hydrogen gas interacts with uranium metal, the combination creates a chemically reactive powder and a runaway reaction that is difficult to stop. The result can impact the safety and lifespan of technology critical for fusion energy, hydrogen storage and nuclear fuels. In a recent study published in npj Materials Degradation, researchers from Lawrence Livermore…

A diagram of the plasma flow reactor that can be used to examine particles as they move from a hot plasma (left) to a cooler condensed state (right). (Courtesy image)

LLNL scientists use controlled experiments to better understand nuclear fallout

In less than a millionth of a second after a nuclear detonation or a severe nuclear reactor accident, an enormous burst of energy heats the surrounding air and materials. Everything in the vicinity is vaporized into a hot, glowing cloud of gas and plasma. As that nuclear fireball expands, it mixes with air, begins to cool and condenses into tiny solid particles — creating…

John Copley works at a laptop with a computer simulation on a screen behind him.

HEDS Fellow John Copley’s modeling methodology

John Copley is the newest High Energy Density Science (HEDS) Center fellow at Lawrence Livermore. This fellowship provides him with the opportunity to independently pursue research related to the study of matter and energy in extreme conditions. In Copley’s case, this involves developing improved methods for modeling material phase transformations and equilibria at high…

Sonny Ly, deputy group leader for the Laser Material Interaction Science Group in LLNL’s Materials Science Division, conducts hands-on work supporting laser physics and laser-material interactions research. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Meet LLNL: Laser Material Interaction Deputy Group Leader Sonny Ly

Sonny Ly has built a career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) combining laser physics, materials science and mentorship. A deputy group leader in the Laser Material Interaction Science Group within the Materials Science Division under Physical and Life Sciences, Ly first came to the Lab in 2010 as a graduate student from the University of California, Davis…

A diagram of a fuel-cell assembly

3D-printed interlocking electrodes demonstrate optimization potential for energy storage

Good electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices such as rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors can store a lot of energy and release it quickly, but these design goals are often at odds with each other. Using design optimization and 3D printing, a team led by engineers and scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have overcome this tradeoff and…