PROGRAM AREA OVERVIEW

OFFICE OF BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES

The Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program supports fundamental research in the natural sciences leading to new and improved energy technologies.  The program’s purpose is to create new scientific knowledge by emphasizing peer-reviewed fundamental research – in materials sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and physical biosciences – that is relevant to energy resources, production, conversion, and efficiency.  The results of BES-supported research are routinely published in the open literature.

A key function of the program is to plan, construct, and operate premier national user facilities to serve researchers at universities, national laboratories, and industrial laboratories, thus enabling the acquisition of new knowledge that cannot be obtained in any other way. The scientific facilities include synchrotron radiation light sources, high-flux neutron sources, electron-beam microcharacterization centers, nanoscale science research centers, and specialized facilities such as the Combustion Research Facility. These national resources are available free of charge to all researchers based on the quality and importance of proposed nonproprietary experiments.

A major objective of the BES program is to promote the transfer of the results of our basic research to advance and create technologies important to Department of Energy (DOE) missions in areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy resources, improved use of fossil fuels, mitigation of the adverse impacts of energy production and use, and future nuclear energy sources. The following set of technical topics represents one important mechanism by which the BES program augments its system of university and laboratory research programs and integrates basic science, applied research, and development activities within the DOE.

For additional information regarding the Office of Basic Energy Sciences priorities, click here.

TOPICS:

1. Technology to Support BES User Facilities

a. Synchrotron Radiation Facilities

b. Beam Diagnostic Instrumentation for Free Electron Lasers and 3rd Generation Light Sources

c. High Power Mercury Spallation Targets

d. Instrumentation for Ultrafast X-ray Science

2. Radio Frequency (RF) Devices and Components for Accelerator Facilities

a. Power Devices and Components for High Level Radio Frequency (RF) Accelerator Systems

b. Modulators for High Level Radio Frequency (RF) Accelerator Systems

c. Low Level Radio Frequency (LLRF) Accelerator Systems

d. Devices for the Manipulation of Electron Beams

3. Advanced Sources for Accelerator Facilities

a. Electron Gun Technology

b. High Brightness Sources of Negative Hydrogen Ions

c. Undulator Radiation Sources

4. Ancillary Technologies for Accelerator Facilities

a. Accelerator Modeling and Control

b. Superconducting Technology for Accelerators

c. Cooling of Superconducting Systems
d. Advanced Laser Systems for Accelerator Applications

5. Instrumentation for Electron Microscopy and Scanning Probe Microscopy

a. Electron Microscopy and Microcharacterization
b. Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)

6. Instrumentation for Materials Research Using Synchrotron Radiation

a. Beam Line Optics

b. Control of Sample Environment

c. Detectors

7. Advanced Coal Research

a. Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Utilization

b. Development of NDE Techniques and Monitoring Methods for Continuous Plant Assessment of Critical Components at Temperature and Pressure

c. Oxygen Reduction Catalyst Development

8. Advanced Battery Electrode Development

a. Novel Electrode Materials (Non-lithium Based Chemistries)

b. Hydride Storage Material for Electrodes in Aqueous Alkaline Chemistries

9. Materials for Nuclear Energy Systems

a. Advanced Radiation Resistant Ferritic-Martensitic Alloys and Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) Steels

b. Advanced Refractory, Ceramic, Ceramic Composite, Graphitic or Coated Materials

c. Advanced Technologies for the Assessment and Mitigation of Materials Degradation for Light Water Reactor Systems and Components

10. Solid State Lighting

a. SSL Products for General Illumination Applications

b. Off-Grid SSL Products

c. Core Technology for Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

d. Core Technology for Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)

11. Advanced Materials and Technologies for Cooling and Waste Heat Recovery
a. Solid-State Materials and Devices for Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Applications

b. Advanced Working Fluids and Mechanical Vapor Compression Systems

c. Advanced Heat Exchanger Technologies

d.Advanced Waste Heat Recovery for Electricity Generation or Cooling Applications

12. Energy Efficient Membranes

a. Membrane Materials with Improved Properties

b. Biofuels and Bioproducts

c. Hydrogen Production

d. Industrial Membrane Process Systems

13. Catalysis

a. Selective Catalytic Conversion of Fossil Feedstocks
b. Biomass Deconstruction and Catalytic Conversion to Fuels
c. Photo- and Electro-Driven Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Water

14. Nanotechnology

a. Nanomaterials

b. Nanotechnology Applications in Electronics, Sensors, and Controls

c. Nanotechnology Applications in Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage

d. Development of Nanoparticle-sized, “High Voltage” Positive Electrode Materials for Use in Advanced Lithium-Ion Cells

15. Technologies Related to Energy Storage for Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

a. Technologies to Assess the Behavior of a Lithium-Ion Cell Containing an Internal Short Circuit

b. Development of Asymmetric Electrochemical Capacitors

c. Development of Lithium-ion Cells that Do Not Require the Positive Electrode to Provide the Lithium that Is Cycled

d. Additives to Reduce the Flammability of Materials Vented from a Lithium-ion Cell

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