The Advanced Photon Source
a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility

Probing the Structure of a Promising NASICON Material:  Research carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source provides fresh insights into the process of homogeneous nucleation and identifying superstructural units in glass ― a necessary step in engineering effective solid-state electrolytes with enhanced ionic conductivity. 

Probing Thin-Film Superconductivity at the Picoscale:  Researchers in this study employed the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source to obtain new data that are expected to aid in understanding the exact mechanisms responsible for thin-film superconductivity, which is essential for applying these materials to practical high-temperature superconducting devices and developing better performing superconductors.

A Crystal-Clear Way to Save Time:  Researchers collaboratively used the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source in their discovery of a better way to make a new class of soft materials—reducing a process that used to take five months down to three minutes.

Capturing How DNA-Repair Enzymes Bridge the Gaps:  It is well known that DNA is critical to life itself, playing a role in almost everything we do and impacting our health as well as disease. Research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source is providing insights about DNA repair that will enhance our understanding of cancer and other diseases in which DNA breaks may play a role.

Making Better Drugs by Controlling Membrane Mechanics:  Cellular membranes are the body's wall of defense against invaders, with the tricky task of blocking the bad guys while letting beneficial molecules come and go. Measurements obtained at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source paint a detailed picture of how a potential membrane-targeting treatment protects cells from pathogens, providing insights that could bolster the next generation of pharmaceutical defenses.

Existing Drug is Shown to Inhibit SARS-Cov-2 Virus:  A new University of Chicago study based on research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source has found that the drug masitinib may be effective in treating COVID-19.

A Cold-Spray Solution for AM Metal Fatigue:  This work, carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source, shows that the integration of additive manufacturing with the cold spray coating process can offer an intriguing way to overcome limitations and further increase the versatility of additive manufacturing techniques. 

Deconstructing the Infectious Machinery of SARS-CoV-2:  Scientists from three U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories have published research at those DOE laboratories that – alongside other recent, complementary studies of coronavirus proteins and genetics – represents the first step toward developing treatments for COVID-19.

Solving the Structure of BRCA2 Protein Complex Important in DNA Repair:  The initials BRCA2 may be best known for a gene associated with many cases of breast cancer, and the protein encoded by the BRCA2 gene is critical to repairing breaks in DNA. Researchers used the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source to determine the structure of a complex of two proteins that allows repairs to happen efficiently in cells undergoing cell-splitting, called meiosis. Their results have major implications for cancer and infertility.

Sniffing Out a Better Covalent Organic Framework:  Research on covalent organic frameworks at the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Photon Source will open the way to effective manufacturing techniques to make them commercially viable materials.

Buzz about Thermoelectrics Heats Up with Promising New Magnesium-Based Materials:  Looking for the next leap in thermoelectric technologies, researchers using three U.S. Department of Energy research facilities gained new fundamental insights into two magnesium-based materials that have the potential to significantly outperform traditional thermoelectric designs and would also be more environmentally friendly and less expensive to manufacture.