Nano research center to take on energy issues

Nano research center to take on energy issues

I was struck with a sense of old-fashioned, innocent irony while walking through the halls of the DOE’s newest Center for Functional Nanomaterials in Upton, NY. This ultra-modern behemoth of a building–all 94,500 square feet of it–will support research dedicated to addressing the energy needs of the future through the development of nanoscale materials and technologies. I guess the building’s size relates more to the problem at hand rather than the potential solution.

“Energy is the greatest challenge of this century,” said BNL’s Director Sam Aronson. “This powerful new facility will foster Brookhaven’s spirit of collaborative research, enabling our researchers and CFN users from around the country and Long Island to make important discoveries.”

Built on the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) site, the center is the fifth–and last–to be built by the DOE around the country and will serve the northeast with a staff of about 50 and an array of unique tools. More than that, however, the hope is that the center will become a thought center where scientists and researchers can come together and discuss ideas, according to Chuck Black, Scientific Leader, CFN Electronic Nanomaterials Group.

“In building this place, we’re developing a vision,” Black said. “We hope this becomes a real resource for the people that have ideas.”

Research will be focused in three key areas:

Nanocatalysis, which helps accelerate chemical reactions using nanoparticles

Biological and soft nanomaterials, such as biomolecules, in which specialized designs can mimic nature and lead to new functions

Electronic nanomaterials, whose optical and electronic properties can be enhanced for incorporation into efficient energy-conversion devices

The research, or at least the thought process, seems focused already. “The are two central issues,” said Mark Hybertsen, Scientific Leader, CFN Theory & Computation Group. “How do we find a sustainable source of liquid fuel, and how do we capture solar energy more efficiently. It’s still the early the days, but we’re excited to see the possibilities.” It’s projected that the facility will support 300 users annually.

Currently, the builiding houses little more than desks, chairs, tables, and unopened boxes. “We have one year from now to get the equipment installed and working,” said Black. Down the road, however, the center will feature clean rooms, wet and dry laboratory space, lithography-based fabrication facilities, and materials synthesis equipment to support electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and scanning-probe and surface-characterization.

To be admitted, researchers must submit proposals, describing the type of work they’ll be undertaking, which will be reviewed for criterion such as feasibility and impact by an independent board made up of scientists, academics, and other experts in the particular field. For a fee, proprietary research may be conducted, where scientists can use the facility without having to divulge the nature of the research. About 150 proposals acquired through BNL’s Jumpstart User Program have already been accepted.

Of course, a solution to the world’s energy problem–whether it comes from Shell Group, some independent researcher, or via efforts at the new CFN–is going to take some time; any real developments could be as far off as 10 years. One thing officials seemed to be sure of is that the solution will not be some evolutionary development, but more akin to the invention of light bulbs in a candlelit world.

“You have to change the game,” said Doon Gibbs, associate lab director for Basic Energy Services at BNL. “What it takes is [the scientific community] asking the big questions. You have to lay the groundwork and do the work that leads to breakthroughs.”

Ralph Raiola

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