Filter News
Area of Research
News Topics
- (-) Climate Change (17)
- (-) Cybersecurity (6)
- (-) Energy Storage (11)
- (-) Frontier (13)
- (-) Mercury (2)
- (-) Quantum Science (5)
- (-) Space Exploration (5)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (12)
- Advanced Reactors (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (18)
- Big Data (10)
- Bioenergy (14)
- Biology (17)
- Biomedical (5)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Buildings (6)
- Chemical Sciences (10)
- Clean Water (7)
- Composites (2)
- Computer Science (26)
- Coronavirus (1)
- Critical Materials (1)
- Decarbonization (17)
- Emergency (1)
- Environment (38)
- Exascale Computing (13)
- Fossil Energy (2)
- Fusion (8)
- Grid (11)
- High-Performance Computing (18)
- Hydropower (2)
- Isotopes (7)
- Machine Learning (11)
- Materials (21)
- Materials Science (10)
- Mathematics (2)
- Microelectronics (2)
- Microscopy (4)
- Nanotechnology (5)
- National Security (15)
- Net Zero (3)
- Neutron Science (23)
- Nuclear Energy (19)
- Partnerships (6)
- Physics (12)
- Polymers (2)
- Quantum Computing (6)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (1)
- Simulation (19)
- Software (1)
- Summit (11)
- Sustainable Energy (10)
- Transportation (7)
Media Contacts
![The illustrations show how the correlation between lattice distortion and proton binding energy in a material affects proton conduction in different environments. Mitigating this interaction could help researchers improve the ionic conductivity of solid materials.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-05/Figure_Rosenthal_5-1-19_0.png?h=73c01546&itok=-tjVhDfm)
Ionic conduction involves the movement of ions from one location to another inside a material. The ions travel through point defects, which are irregularities in the otherwise consistent arrangement of atoms known as the crystal lattice. This sometimes sluggish process can limit the performance and efficiency of fuel cells, batteries, and other energy storage technologies.
![ORNL will use state-of-the-art R&D tools at the Battery Manufacturing Facility to develop new methods for separating and reclaiming valuable materials from spent EV batteries.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/2015-P01989cropped_1.jpg?h=f2976007&itok=mqNFUyYu)
The use of lithium-ion batteries has surged in recent years, starting with electronics and expanding into many applications, including the growing electric and hybrid vehicle industry. But the technologies to optimize recycling of these batteries have not kept pace.
![Symposium attendees represented ORNL, the University of Arizona, Georgia Tech, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Brigham Young University. Symposium attendees represented ORNL, the University of Arizona, Georgia Tech, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Brigham Young University.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/news/images/2019-P00148%5B2%5D%20r1.jpg?itok=imqhuQWL)
Quantum experts from across government and academia descended on Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Wednesday, January 16 for the lab’s first-ever Quantum Networking Symposium. The symposium’s purpose, said organizer and ORNL senior scientist Nick Peters, was to gather quantum an...
![Joseph Lukens, Raphael Pooser, and Nick Peters (from left) of ORNL’s Quantum Information Science Group developed and tested a new interferometer made from highly nonlinear fiber in pursuit of improved sensitivity at the quantum scale. Credit: Carlos Jones](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/news/images/2018-P09674%5B4%5D.jpg?h=1d98ccbd&itok=ztuyXqpm)
By analyzing a pattern formed by the intersection of two beams of light, researchers can capture elusive details regarding the behavior of mysterious phenomena such as gravitational waves. Creating and precisely measuring these interference patterns would not be possible without instruments called interferometers.
![ORNL’s Xiahan Sang unambiguously resolved the atomic structure of MXene, a 2D material promising for energy storage, catalysis and electronic conductivity. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy; photographer Carlos Jones ORNL’s Xiahan Sang unambiguously resolved the atomic structure of MXene, a 2D material promising for energy storage, catalysis and electronic conductivity. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy; photographer Carlos Jones](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/Sang_2016-P07680_0.jpg?itok=w0e5eR_U)
Researchers have long sought electrically conductive materials for economical energy-storage devices. Two-dimensional (2D) ceramics called MXenes are contenders. Unlike most 2D ceramics, MXenes have inherently good conductivity because they are molecular sheets made from the carbides ...