News

In unbound calyx[4]pyrrole, two pyrrole “petals” are flipped up and two, down.

Chalice receptors attract metal contaminants with new chemical selectivity

April 5, 2016

Atomic charges in chemical solutions are like Switzerland—they strive for neutrality. The tendency to balance charges drives dynamics when charged atoms or molecules, called ions, are present in solutions.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers made a molecule that could selectively bind to metals in the middle of the lanthanide series.

ORNL scientists show charged salts can extract specific central lanthanide elements

March 28, 2016

Rare earth elements are metals used in technologies from wind turbines and magnetic resonance imaging agents to industrial catalysts and high-definition televisions.

ORNL’s tough new plastic is made with 50 percent renewable content from biomass. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy; conceptual art by Mark Robbins

ORNL researchers invent tougher plastic with 50 percent renewable content

March 22, 2016

Your car’s bumper is probably made of a moldable thermoplastic polymer called ABS, shorthand for its acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene components.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers re-evaluated used nuclear fuel rods from a commercial reactor and reduced data uncertainties by an order of magnitude compared with previous measurements taken at a different lab.

ORNL’s benchmark data set validates global nuclear reactor codes

March 9, 2016

Nearly 100 commercial nuclear reactors supply one-fifth of America’s energy.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Joe Giaquinto investigates chemical clues for trace-level radioactivity. Giaquinto leads ORNL’s Nuclear Analytical Chemistry and Isotopics Laboratory, which makes critical contributions to nuclear forensics and nonprolifera

Cracking Cases

January 25, 2016

A group of nuclear detectives at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory takes on tough challenges, from detecting illicit uranium using isotopic “fingerprints” to investigating Presidential assassination conspiracies.

In a Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center project to probe a battery’s atomic activity during its first charging cycle, Robert Sacci and colleagues used the Spallation Neutron Source’s vibrational spectrometer to gain chemical inform

ORNL researchers use neutrons to gain insight into battery inefficiency

January 19, 2016

Rechargeable batteries power everything from electric vehicles to wearable gadgets, but obstacles limit the creation of sleeker, longer-lasting and more efficient power sources.

An open port sampling probe developed by ORNL’s Vilmos Kertesz (left) and Gary Van Berkel is among several mass spectrometry technologies licensed to SCIEX.

ORNL, SCIEX sign license agreement for analytical chemistry tech

January 13, 2016

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and SCIEX of Framingham, Mass., have signed a licensing agreement for technologies that speed up, simplify and expand the use of analytic chemistry equipment.

Sheng Dai of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL’s Dai ranked among world’s most influential scientists

December 18, 2015

Sheng Dai of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been named to a list of the most highly cited researchers in the world.

ORNL technique could set new course for extracting uranium from seawater

December 17, 2015

An ultra-high-resolution technique used for the first time to study polymer fibers that trap uranium in seawater may cause researchers to rethink the best methods to harvest this potential fuel for nuclear reactors. The work of a team led by Carter Abney,

ORNL’s Nancy Dudney (center) and former lab researchers Jane Howe and Chengdu Liang were among the developers of lithium-sulfur materials that have been licensed to Solid Power for use in next-generation batteries.

ORNL, Solid Power sign exclusive license for lithium-sulfur battery tech

November 20, 2015

The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Solid Power Inc. of Louisville, Colo., have signed an exclusive agreement licensing lithium-sulfur materials for next-generation batteries.

Materials