Merlin Theodore
ORNL’s Merlin Theodore appointed to National Science Board
Scientists, from left, Parans Paranthaman, Tina Summers and Merlin Theodore at the DOE’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at ORNL are partnering with industry and university to develop antiviral materials for N95 masks. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Materials — Self-sanitizing N95 masks

Advanced Fibers Manufacturing

 

Developing technologies for the manufacturing of fiber and intermediate feedstock

Researchers within the Advanced Fiber Manufacturing Group work with industry to support the demonstration, deployment, and validation of material innovations such as the development of low-cost precursors and energy efficient advanced conversion processes at an industrial-relevant scale. Recent research efforts have enabled domestic sources for advanced fibers and supported a manufacturing workforce development program to enhance industry adoption of new technologies.

The group not only focuses on developing scale-up science and technologies for advanced fiber manufacturing, but also supports the associated fabrication of functional components for energy applications, including compressed gas storage, wind energy, and vehicle lightweighting. In addition, researchers are investigating intermediate and composite production techniques such as compounding, tow-preg, and pultrusion for carbon fiber.  As a strong, stiff, lightweight material, carbon fiber is one example of an advanced fiber that can be used in automobiles, wind energy, oil and gas, and infrastructure. Innovative performance-focused materials and processes can also potentially drive significant performance improvements for national security applications.

Materials & Precursors

Textiles

Low-cost materials to create industrial-grade carbon fiber

Lignin

A bio-derived material for novel structures like buildings and boats

Pitch
(coal- or petroleum-based)

Residue collected from mining processes

Silicon carbide and nitride

High-temperature applications for extreme environments

https://youtu.be/-okT36zYdD0

In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers at ORNL worked with industry and academia to rapidly demonstrate and deploy the production of N-95 mask filter material. These efforts led to the n ongoing mass production of millions of face masks and the creation of thousands of jobs.

Facilities

The Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF) is the Department of Energy’s only designated user facility for carbon fiber innovation, providing a platform for identifying high potential, low-cost raw materials, including textile, lignin, polymer, and hydrocarbon-based precursors.

The Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) is dedicated to improving the energy and material efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of American manufacturers. Research focuses on manufacturing analysis and simulation, composites and polymer systems, metal powder systems, metrology and characterization, machine tooling, large-scale metal systems, and robotics and automation.

 

Sponsorship

Research is supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office and Vehicle Technology Office.

Current Research