Materials
Discovering and designing the materials that power U.S. energy, national security, and economic competitiveness.
Read all Materials newsAmerica’s most comprehensive materials research program
Materials underpin nearly every major scientific and technological breakthrough shaping the nation’s future. From advanced nuclear energy and fusion to quantum computing, space exploration, and modern manufacturing, progress depends on discovering and engineering materials with new capabilities.
As the nation’s largest multiprogram science and energy laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory brings together an unmatched breadth of expertise to meet this challenge. ORNL integrates quantum-scale research with advanced synthesis, characterization, artificial intelligence, and large-scale computation. This end-to-end capability enables researchers to understand materials at the atomic level and design them for demanding real-world applications.
These efforts directly support national priorities in energy innovation, defense and nonproliferation, and economic competitiveness, accelerating the transition from discovery to deployment.
More to Discover
ORNL’s Unique Materials Advantage
World-leading user facilities for materials research
Materials research at ORNL is powered by an unmatched collection of on-site user facilities. The Frontier exascale supercomputer accelerates theory and AI applications, while the Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor allow scientists to examine materials at the atomic scale. State-of-the-art instrumentation enables work at dimensions as small as a single atom, translating fundamental insight into practical applications.
Materials for the most extreme environments
ORNL leads the development of materials capable of operating in some of the harshest conditions imaginable, including inside advanced fission and fusion systems where temperatures and radiation levels are extraordinary. These advances are essential to next-generation reactors, resilient energy infrastructure, and long-term U.S. energy security.
Materials that strengthen national security
ORNL advances materials for radiation shielding, nuclear detection, and technologies that support global nonproliferation and defense missions. The laboratory’s integration of nuclear science, engineering, and materials research ensures rapid translation from discovery to deployment.
Revitalizing American manufacturing and supply chains
ORNL innovates materials and processes that increase throughput, reduce energy consumption and waste, and decrease reliance on foreign suppliers. This includes new methods to secure supply chains of critical materials and extract valuable minerals from coal, mines, and waste streams.
Core Capabilities
Materials Discovery & Synthesis
Discovering and creating new materials with tailored properties for energy, security, and advanced manufacturing applications.
Characterization & Neutron Science
Using world-leading neutron sources and advanced instrumentation to probe materials at the atomic scale and understand structure, dynamics, and performance.
AI & Theory for Materials Design
Leveraging exascale computing and artificial intelligence to predict, design, and accelerate the development of next-generation materials.
Extreme Environments & Applied Materials
Designing materials that perform in radiation, high-temperature, corrosive, and other extreme environments, including advanced nuclear and fusion systems.
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Virtual Tours
Explore a range of lab spaces and equipment used in nanoscience research, including instrumentation used in nanomaterials synthesis, nanofabrication, microscopy, and modeling and simulation.