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Technical illustration of an EV battery collector with vehicle placement shown in background.

Strengthening the competitiveness of the U.S. transportation industry depends on developing domestic EV batteries that combine rapid charging with long-range performance — two goals that often conflict. Researchers at ORNL have addressed this challenge by redesigning a key battery component, enabling fast, 10-minute charging while improving energy density and reducing reliance on copper.

Two ORNL researchers inspect carbon fiber materials - one black rectangular sheet and one see-through sheet of film.

Researchers at ORNL have developed an innovative new technique using carbon nanofibers to enhance binding in carbon fiber and other fiber-reinforced polymer composites – an advance likely to improve structural materials for automobiles, airplanes and other applications that require lightweight and strong materials. 

A 3D rendering of a large, white protein complex bound to a purple strand of guide RNA, which is aligned with a blue double-helix DNA strand. The background is a soft gray with scattered, blurred molecular shapes.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Colorado Boulder used a gene-silencing tool and a large library of molecular guides to understand how photosynthetic bacteria adapt to light and temperature changes. They found that even partial suppression of certain genes yielded big benefits in modifying the stress response of wild microbes. 

headshot of Jerry Tuskan

Gerald Tuskan, director of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation and a Corporate Fellow at ORNL, has been awarded the Marcus Wallenberg Prize, the world’s highest honor in the field of forestry, for his pioneering work in sequencing and analyzing the first tree genome.

Illustration of a quantum experiment: atoms in a lattice (inset) with entanglement effects radiating from a central particle on a textured surface.

Working at nanoscale dimensions, billionths of a meter in size, a team of scientists led by ORNL revealed a new way to measure high-speed fluctuations in magnetic materials. Knowledge obtained by these new measurements could be used to advance technologies ranging from traditional computing to the emerging field of quantum computing. 

Autonomous Configurable Component Evaluation Power Test platform, called ACCEPT, enabling automated characterization of semiconductor devices.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new automated testing capability for semiconductor devices, which is newly available to researchers and industry partners in the Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center.

Procter & Gamble scientists used ORNL’s Summit supercomputer to create a digital model of the corneal epithelium, the primary outer layer of cells covering the human eye, and test that model against a series of cleaning compounds in search of a gentler, more environmentally sustainable formula.

P&G is using simulations on the ORNL Summit supercomputer to study how surfactants in cleaners cause eye irritation. By modeling the corneal epithelium, P&G aims to develop safer, concentrated cleaning products that meet performance and safety standards while supporting sustainability goals.

A graphical representation about a gene in a poplar tree. There is a close up of a tree to the right and the far left-top corner. There is a strand of DNA going down the middle of the image with an ant and two small circles showing the organisms inside the DNA

A team of scientists with two Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers — the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — identified a gene in a poplar tree that enhances photosynthesis and can boost tree height by about 30% in the field and by as much as 200% in the greenhouse. 

This illustration demonstrates how atomic configurations with an equiatomic concentration of niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta) and vanadium (V) can become disordered. The AI model helps researchers identify potential atomic configurations that can be used as shielding for housing fusion applications in a nuclear reactor. Credit: Massimiliano Lupo Pasini/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A study led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities.

Through a new technical collaboration program, companies will be able to propose research projects that utilize the labs and expertise in ORNL’s Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A new technical collaboration program at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory will help businesses develop and launch electric grid innovations. Sponsored by the Transformer Resilience and Advanced Components program in DOE’s Office of Electricity, the initiative will provide companies with access to national laboratory resources, enabling them to capture market opportunities.