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Researchers observe T-shaped cluster drives lanthanide separation system during liquid-liquid extraction. Credit: Alex Ivanov/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at ORNL zoomed in on molecules designed to recover critical materials via liquid-liquid extraction — a method used by industry to separate chemically similar elements.

State and Local Economic Development Award

A partnership of ORNL, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee and TVA that aims to attract nuclear energy-related firms to Oak Ridge has been recognized with a state and local economic development award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

Researchers captured atomic-level insights on the rare-earth mineral monazite to inform future design of flotation collector molecules, illustrated above, that can aid in the recovery of critical materials. Credit: Chad Malone/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Critical Materials Institute researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Arizona State University studied the mineral monazite, an important source of rare-earth elements, to enhance methods of recovering critical materials for energy, defense and manufacturing applications.

Hybrid poplar trees such as these shown in an ORNL greenhouse were engineered with the REVEILLE1 gene to delay dormancy and produce more biomass. The research was led by the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at ORNL with the Joint Genome Institute, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, the University of Connecticut and other partners. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A team of scientists led by ORNL discovered the gene in agave that governs when the plant goes dormant and used it to create poplar trees that nearly doubled in size, increasing biomass yield for biofuels production