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Media Contacts
![Red background fading into black from top to bottom. Over top the background are 20 individual rectangles lined up in three rows horizontally with a red and blue line moving through it.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/cover_image.jpg?h=f61ad192&itok=-DQxXWM_)
ORNL scientists develop a sample holder that tumbles powdered photochemical materials within a neutron beamline — exposing more of the material to light for increased photo-activation and better photochemistry data capture.
![An international team using neutrons set the first benchmark (one nanosecond) for a polymer-electrolyte and lithium-salt mixture. Findings could produce safer, more powerful lithium batteries. Credit: Phoenix Pleasant/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/roost.jpg?h=4f43c43c&itok=_42L5o3J)
An international team using neutrons set the first benchmark (one nanosecond) for a polymer-electrolyte and lithium-salt mixture. Findings could produce safer, more powerful lithium batteries.
![ORNL researchers achieved the highest wireless power transfer level for a light-duty passenger vehicle when the team demonstrated a 100-kW wireless power transfer to an EV using ORNL’s patented polyphase electromagnetic coupling coil. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-03/2024-P00658%20%281%29.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=2gqTSOqI)
A team of researchers at ORNL demonstrated that a light-duty passenger electric vehicle can be wirelessly charged at 100-kW with 96% efficiency using polyphase electromagnetic coupling coils with rotating magnetic fields.
![Chelsea Chen, polymer physicist at ORNL, stands in front of an eight-channel potentiostat and temperature chamber used for battery and electrochemical testing. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-02/2023-P19202.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=Q-GNSOOO)
Chelsea Chen, a polymer physicist at ORNL, is studying ion transport in solid electrolytes that could help electric vehicle battery charges last longer.
![Caption: Jaswinder Sharma makes battery coin cells with a lightweight current collector made of thin layers of aligned carbon fibers in a polymer with carbon nanotubes. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/sharma1_1.jpg?h=f7dae89e&itok=JiSsMewF)
Electric vehicles can drive longer distances if their lithium-ion batteries deliver more energy in a lighter package. A prime weight-loss candidate is the current collector, a component that often adds 10% to the weight of a battery cell without contributing energy.
![New wireless charging coil designs, created and tested by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, include a three-phase system that features rotating magnetic fields between layers of coils. The layered coils transfer power in a more uniform way, allowing for an increase in power density. Credit: Jason Pries/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-11/prototype_phase_recolored.png?h=7254c012&itok=gSMW8XVf)
ORNL researchers created and tested new wireless charging designs that may double the power density, resulting in a lighter weight system compared with existing technologies.
![Salting the gears](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-09/Salting-the-gears_1_0.png?h=b00637a2&itok=gsk3DeGh)
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory proved that a certain class of ionic liquids, when mixed with commercially available oils, can make gears run more efficiently with less noise and better durability.
![Isabelle Snyder standing in front of screen dislaying national map of US power grids](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-02/isabellesnyder_small.jpg?h=33dc0d3a&itok=xvqSkqXw)
Isabelle Snyder calls faults as she sees them, whether it’s modeling operations for the nation’s power grid or officiating at the US Open Tennis Championships.
![Hong Wang, a senior distinguished researcher at the National Transportation Research Center, uses applied mathematics and modeling to improve transportation systems.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-07/2019-p04171.jpg?h=05de60d4&itok=ilLqUi-6)
In Hong Wang’s world, nothing is beyond control. Before joining Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a senior distinguished researcher in transportation systems, he spent more than three decades studying the control of complex industrial systems in the United Kingdom.
![Batteries—Polymers that bind](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-06/Batteries-Polymers_that_bind_0.png?h=dec22bcf&itok=oJ7mroY1)
A team of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated that designed synthetic polymers can serve as a high-performance binding material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries.