Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Clean Energy (101)
- (-) Computational Biology (1)
- (-) Materials (87)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (4)
- Advanced Manufacturing (1)
- Biological Systems (1)
- Biology and Environment (90)
- Biology and Soft Matter (1)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (2)
- Computational Engineering (1)
- Computer Science (1)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Fusion and Fission (9)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (7)
- Materials Characterization (1)
- Materials for Computing (13)
- Materials Under Extremes (1)
- National Security (14)
- Neutron Science (37)
- Supercomputing (64)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Biomedical (9)
- (-) Energy Storage (58)
- (-) Environment (40)
- (-) Exascale Computing (3)
- (-) Grid (23)
- (-) Materials Science (60)
- (-) Mercury (2)
- (-) Polymers (13)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (60)
- Advanced Reactors (10)
- Artificial Intelligence (12)
- Big Data (3)
- Bioenergy (28)
- Biology (11)
- Biotechnology (3)
- Buildings (19)
- Chemical Sciences (28)
- Clean Water (6)
- Climate Change (16)
- Composites (9)
- Computer Science (29)
- Coronavirus (12)
- Critical Materials (10)
- Cybersecurity (10)
- Decarbonization (26)
- Fossil Energy (2)
- Frontier (2)
- Fusion (11)
- High-Performance Computing (8)
- Isotopes (13)
- ITER (1)
- Machine Learning (7)
- Materials (68)
- Mathematics (2)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Microscopy (20)
- Molten Salt (3)
- Nanotechnology (31)
- National Security (6)
- Net Zero (2)
- Neutron Science (37)
- Nuclear Energy (35)
- Partnerships (16)
- Physics (27)
- Quantum Computing (2)
- Quantum Science (11)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (7)
- Simulation (2)
- Space Exploration (5)
- Summit (6)
- Sustainable Energy (40)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (6)
- Transportation (37)
Media Contacts
![2023 Battelle Distinguished Inventors](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/23-G07641-Battelle-Distinguished-Inventor-graphic-pcg_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=uhmqAKgT)
Four scientists affiliated with ORNL were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors during the lab’s annual Innovation Awards on Dec. 1 in recognition of being granted 14 or more United States patents.
![Karen White](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/karen-white.png?h=82115ee8&itok=oxhQuzGO)
Karen White, who works in ORNL’s Neutron Science Directorate, has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
![ORNL researchers Lu Yu and Yaocai Bai examine vials that contain a chemical solution that causes the cobalt and lithium to separate from a spent battery, followed by a second stage when cobalt precipitates in the bottom. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/2023-P12386_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=CVJOHRVM)
Used lithium-ion batteries from cell phones, laptops and a growing number of electric vehicles are piling up, but options for recycling them remain limited mostly to burning or chemically dissolving shredded batteries.
![Conceptual art depicts machine learning finding an ideal material for capacitive energy storage. Its carbon framework (black) has functional groups with oxygen (pink) and nitrogen (turquoise). Credit: Tao Wang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/Press%20release%20image_0.jpg?h=706c9a24&itok=zX1lC5ud)
Guided by machine learning, chemists at ORNL designed a record-setting carbonaceous supercapacitor material that stores four times more energy than the best commercial material.
![An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, can be triggered by a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere or by an electromagnetic generator in a vehicle or aircraft. Here’s the chain of reactions it could cause to harm electrical equipment on the ground. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/EMP_illust04_0.png?h=21cd0a81&itok=M9UNd-n0)
Researchers at ORNL have been leading a project to understand how a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, could threaten power plants.
![The sun sets behind the ORNL Visitor Center in this aerial photo from April 2023. Credit: Kase Clapp/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/sunset_visitor-center_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=jLImPT0R)
In fiscal year 2023 — Oct. 1–Sept. 30, 2023 — Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded more than $8 million in technology maturation funding through the Department of Energy’s Technology Commercialization Fund, or TCF.
![ORNL’s organocatalyst deconstructs mixed plastics at different temperatures, which facilitates recovering their individual monomers separately, in reusable form. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/23-G05683_MixedPlasticRecycling_proof2_0.png?h=27870e4a&itok=jjYga9GD)
Little of the mixed consumer plastics thrown away or placed in recycle bins actually ends up being recycled. Nearly 90% is buried in landfills or incinerated at commercial facilities that generate greenhouse gases and airborne toxins. Neither outcome is ideal for the environment.
![Steven Campbell’s technical expertise supports integration of power electronics innovations from ORNL labs to the electrical grid. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/2023-P00223_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=59Rnwcd-)
Steven Campbell can often be found deep among tall cases of power electronics, hunkered in his oversized blue lab coat, with 1500 volts of electricity flowing above his head. When interrupted in his laboratory at ORNL, Campbell will usually smile and duck his head.
![ORNL researcher Sreenivasa Jaldanki was recently elevated to IEEE senior member. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/Jaldanki_0.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=m0irC_6f)
Sreenivasa Jaldanki, a researcher in the Grid Systems Modeling and Controls group at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was recently elevated to senior membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE.
![The image conceptualizes the processing, structure and mechanical behavior of glassy ion conductors for solid state lithium batteries. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/SSB%20image_0.jpg?h=9d172ced&itok=o6AXEIXc)
As current courses through a battery, its materials erode over time. Mechanical influences such as stress and strain affect this trajectory, although their impacts on battery efficacy and longevity are not fully understood.