Research Stories

Tomorrow’s trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes could be powered with clean hydrogen technology that exists today—and discoveries made by Canadian physicists could help make this sustainable technology even safer and more efficient.

Rolls Royce has applied for a patent for a new material for use in higher-efficiency jet engines, after collaborating with University of Cambridge scientists to study new alloys using neutron beams.

The super-ambitious ‘Internet of Things’ would allow smart devices everywhere to gather, share, and respond to data—and one Simon Fraser University chemist is making breakthroughs in understanding the materials that have just the right electro-mechanical properties to turn that vision into a reality.

By studying soft and biological materials with sophisticated tools like neutron beams, graduate students in biophysics are able to develop advanced analytical skills that can be transferred to a wide range of professional careers in all areas of Canada’s economy.

Dalhousie University engineers use neutron beams to develop inexpensive ways to process lightweight materials for actuators that fold airplane wings during flight—just one of many possible energy-saving aerospace and automotive applications for shape memory alloys.

After using neutron beams to better understand materials required for safer energy storage, University of Calgary chemists and their international collaborators were able to demonstrate a prototype battery that showed major improvements to performance.

In partnership with GKN Powder Metallurgy, Dalhousie University researchers are using neutron beams in studies aimed at opening up the automotive market to more products made from aluminum powders—a promising alternative to the heavier steel components used in the industry today.

New Brunswick Power accessed neutron beams to obtain critical knowledge to understand unexpected incidents at its nuclear power plant and assure its safe and reliable operations.

Stress data from an array of feeder pipes obtained with neutron beams assists NB Power to manage the cracking issues and informs decision-making about the timing of its refurbishment.

The Canadian nuclear industry rose to immediate challenges posed by the cracking issues, employing neutron beams as part of their research on materials. That research provided confidence to continue with a multi-billion export project, enabled all the stations to assure safety for continued, and resulted in spin-off technology.

Operators of nuclear power plants using Canadian technology joined together to study the cracking issues observed at Point Lepreau and later at Gentilly-2, and ultimately solved the underlying issue for all Canadian reactors.

Studies of nuclear fuel at the CNBC help Canada to contribute to global nuclear security.