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Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Ramesh Bhave co-invented a process to recover high-purity rare earth elements from scrapped magnets of computer hard drives (shown here) and other post-consumer wastes. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL receives four 2020 FLC technology transfer awards

March 4, 2020

Three technologies and one commercialization program developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have won National Technology Transfer Awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

To understand the electronic structures of solids and predict their properties, ORNL’s Valentino Cooper uses density functional theory (DFT), which models how many electrons are in a region rather than where those electrons are. “DFT essentially presents one electron existing in a ‘sea foam’ and tells how dense that foam is,” he said. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Valentino Cooper: Building foundations for solid science

February 24, 2020

Valentino (“Tino”) Cooper of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory uses theory, modeling and computation to improve fundamental understanding of advanced materials for next-generation energy and information technologies.

Closely spaced hydrogen atoms could facilitate superconductivity in ambient conditions

February 3, 2020

An international team of researchers has discovered the hydrogen atoms in a metal hydride material are much more tightly spaced than had been predicted for decades — a feature that could possibly facilitate superconductivity at or near room temperature

The lithium-aluminum-layered double hydroxide chloride (LDH) sorbent being developed by ORNL targets recovery of lithium from geothermal brines—paving the way for increased domestic production of the material for today’s rechargeable batteries. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ORNL develops sorbent to recover lithium from geothermal brines

January 21, 2020

In the quest for domestic sources of lithium to meet growing demand for battery production, scientists at ORNL are advancing a sorbent that can be used to more efficiently recover the material from brine wastes at geothermal power plants.

Tech transfer—Showcasing innovation

October 7, 2019

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will present eight innovative technologies currently available for commercialization during a public event at ORNL on October 17.

low-cost material can be used as an additive to increase thermal insulation performance

Building products manufacturer licenses ORNL technology for increased thermal insulation

September 12, 2019

Quanex Building Products has signed a non-exclusive agreement to license a method to produce insulating material from ORNL.

Stealth Mark licenses ORNL invisible micro-taggant for anticounterfeiting applications

June 25, 2018

StealthCo, Inc., an Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based firm doing business as Stealth Mark, has exclusively licensed an invisible micro-taggant from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL’s Tolga Aytug uses thermal processing and etching capabilities to produce a transparent superhydrophobic coating technology. The highly durable, thin coating technology was licensed by Carlex Glass America, aimed initially at advancing superhydrophob

Carlex Glass America licenses ORNL superhydrophobic coatings for automotive applications

June 13, 2018

Carlex Glass America LLC has exclusively licensed optically clear, superhydrophobic coating technology from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory aimed initially at advancing glass products for the automotive sector.

Samsung licenses ORNL transparent superhydrophobic glass coatings for electronic devices

September 26, 2016

Samsung Electronics has exclusively licensed optically clear superhydrophobic film technology from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve the performance of glass displays on smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices.

ORNL carbon fiber processing technology co-invented by Felix Paulauskas (left) has been licensed to RMX Technologies, represented by vice president for research and development Truman Bonds.

ORNL exclusively licenses carbon fiber processing inventions to RMX Technologies

May 13, 2016

RMX Technologies of Knoxville, Tenn., and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have signed an exclusive licensing agreement for a new technology that dramatically reduces the time and energy needed in the production of carbon fiber.

Materials