Scientific Achievement: Exsolution behavior in high-entropy oxides (HEOs) were rationally tuned through coupled lattice- and valence-engineering, resulting in a highly active and selective catalyst for acetylene semi-hydrogenation to et
Scientific Achievement: Phase-field modeling and mesoscale imaging reveal that surface wettability and temperature control whether water condenses as isolated droplets or uniform films on magnesium oxide (MgO), directly determining the
Scientific Achievement: Weakly solvating electrolytes revealed that reduced Li⁺ solvent coordination promotes stable anion-derived interphases, improving Li deposition and electrochemical stability.
Scientific Achievement: Atomic-scale simulations and experiments revealed the acidity of MgO surface sites and suggested their hydroxylation as the mechanism for Mg(OH)2 conversion.
Scientific Achievement: Using novel non-invasive characterization, demonstrated that dynamic bonding in fiber-polymer interface controls the topological freezing transition and induces shape reforming of the glassy material.
A multidisciplinary ORNL team used expertise in synthetic biology, AI-driven analysis, chemistry, neutrons and materials science to identify new members of a family of enzymes with a natural affinity for degrading synthetic nylon polymers.
Scientific Achievement: AlCl3-containing molten salts were found to ensure high catalytic efficiency in the conversion of polyethylene plastics to fuels through the stabilization of carbenium interm
Scientific Achievement: Carbonation of MgO only proceeds in presence of humidity with higher relative humidity increasing reaction layer thickness.
Scientific Achievement: Via selective deconstruction (by protic ionic salts), post-consumer plastic waste was converted into functional molecules that can serve as building blocks for new polymer materials with built-in closed-loop recy