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Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed an adsorbent material to rapidly remove toxic chromium and arsenic simultaneously from water resources. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at ORNL are tackling a global water challenge with a unique material designed to target not one, but two toxic, heavy metal pollutants for simultaneous removal.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers used an invertible neural network, a type of artificial intelligence that mimics the human brain, to select the most suitable materials for desired properties, such as flexibility or heat resistance, with high chemical accuracy. The study could lead to more customizable materials design for industry.

A study led by researchers at ORNL could help make materials design as customizable as point-and-click.

This image illustrates lattice distortion, strain, and ion distribution in metal halide perovskites, which can be induced by external stimuli such as light and heat. Image credit: Stephen Jesse/ORNL

A study by researchers at the ORNL takes a fresh look at what could become the first step toward a new generation of solar batteries.

The Energy Exascale Earth System Model project reliably simulates aspects of earth system variability and projects decadal changes that will critically impact the U.S. energy sector in the future. A new version of the model delivers twice the performance of its predecessor. Credit: E3SM, Dept. of Energy

A new version of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM, is two times faster than an earlier version released in 2018.

Xunxiang Hu, a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow in ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division, designed this machine to produce large, crack-free pieces of yttrium hydride to be used as a moderator in the core of ORNL’s Transformational Challenge Reactor and other microreactors. Credit: Xunxiang Hu/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

About 60 years ago, scientists discovered that a certain rare earth metal-hydrogen mixture, yttrium, could be the ideal moderator to go inside small, gas-cooled nuclear reactors.

Battery materials at interface

Scientists seeking ways to improve a battery’s ability to hold a charge longer, using advanced materials that are safe, stable and efficient, have determined that the materials themselves are only part of the solution.

The CrossVis application includes a parallel coordinates plot (left), a tiled image view (right) and other interactive data views. Credit: Chad Steed/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

From materials science and earth system modeling to quantum information science and cybersecurity, experts in many fields run simulations and conduct experiments to collect the abundance of data necessary for scientific progress.

Yanwen Zhang

In the search to create materials that can withstand extreme radiation, Yanwen Zhang, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, says that materials scientists must think outside the box.

At the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, this part for a scaled-down prototype of a reactor was produced for industry partner Kairos Power.

Scientists at the Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL have their eyes on the prize: the Transformational Challenge Reactor, or TCR, a microreactor built using 3D printing and other new approaches that will be up and running by 2023.

microscope lens and lithium battery prototype

The formation of lithium dendrites is still a mystery, but materials engineers study the conditions that enable dendrites and how to stop them.