Skip to main content
As protons (pink) strike the target vessel and pass into the liquid mercury inside, the protons are absorbed, creating neutrons (blue) that are then sent through moderators and beam tubes to research instruments to study the fundamental properties of mate
The Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has reached a new milestone by operating a complete neutron production run cycle at 1.3 megawatts. Achieving the record power level with a remarkable 94 percent accelerator bea...
Lu Huang, USS industrial research engineer prepares a lightweighted advanced high strength steel component for neutron research at the Spallation Neutron Source’s VULCAN instrument.
The demand for lighter, stronger, and more durable materials for use in vehicles has never been higher. Companies are looking at new and advanced materials such as lightweight advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) to develop automotive components that help increase gas efficiency, red...
Postdoctoral researcher Cory Knoot prepares a sample of blue-green algae for neutron scattering experiment on the Bio-SANS instrument at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. Credit: Kelley Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using neutrons to understand why certain hydrocarbons produced by blue-green algae are important to their biology, so new strains can be engineered to sustainably produce biofuels. Neutron scattering makes it possible to non-destructively see inside living algae at real world temperatures and in real time.
Default image of ORNL entry sign
Two Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers specializing in neutron and chemical science are among 84 recipients of Department of Energy’s Office of Science Early Career Research Program awards. The Early Career Research Program, now in its ninth year, supports...
Illustration of a nitrogen dioxide molecule (depicted in red and gold) confined within a nano-size pore of an MFM-300(Al) metal-organic framework material as characterized using neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Led by the University of Manchester, an international team of scientists has developed a metal-organic framework material (MOF) that exhibits a selective, fully reversible and repeatable capability to remove nitrogen dioxide gas from the atmosphere in ambient conditions.

Assembly of the PROSPECT neutrino detector. (Credit: PROSPECT collaboration / Mara Lavitt)
The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) has completed the installation of a novel antineutrino detector that will probe the possible existence of a new form of matter. PROSPECT, located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Department of Energy...
ORNL_neutrons_low-barrierH.png

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led team has observed how a prolific class of antibiotics may be losing its effectiveness as certain bacteria develop drug resistance by acquiring enzymes known as aminoglycoside modifying enzymes. Aminoglycosides are commonly used in antibiotics to tre...

Neutron interactions revealed the orthorhombic structure of the hybrid perovskite stabilized by the strong hydrogen bonds between the nitrogen substituent of the methylammonium cations and the bromides on the corner-linked PbBr6 octahedra.
Neutron scattering has revealed, in real time, the fundamental mechanisms behind the conversion of sunlight into energy in hybrid perovskite materials. A better understanding of this behavior will enable manufacturers to design solar cells with increased efficiency...
Uppsala University researcher Marvin Seibert is using neutrons to study RuBisCO, an abundant enzyme essential to life on earth.
Plants, algae, and other organisms produce the RuBisCO enzyme to convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into energy-rich molecules, like glucose, that form carbohydrates and other organic carbon compounds essential to life on earth. This catalytic process is called “carbon f...
ORNL-designed nuclear fuel cladding is now undergoing tests at Southern Nuclear’s Hatch Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia, with additional tests planned for later this year. Credit: Jason Richards/ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy
A team led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a safer cladding for nuclear fuel rods. The new material, an alloy of iron, chromium and aluminum, avoids zirconium. As a result, it should give plant operators s...