Better batteries, catalysts, electronic information storage
and processing devices are among potential benefits of an unexpected discovery
made by Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists using samples isolated from
the atmosphere
Researchers at the Department of Energy lab learned that key
surface properties of complex oxide films are unaffected by reduced levels of
oxygen during fabrication — an unanticipated finding with possible implications
for the design of functional complex oxides used in a variety of consumer
products, said Zheng Gai, a member of DOE’s Center for Nanoscale Materials
Sciences at ORNL.