Skip to main content
ORNL’s Valentino Cooper will direct a new DOE Energy Frontier Research Center focused on polymer electrolytes for solid-state batteries. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL has been selected to lead an Energy Frontier Research Center, or EFRC, focused on polymer electrolytes for next-generation energy storage devices such as fuel cells and solid-state electric vehicle batteries.

ORNL researchers are perfecting ways to use drones to check remote parts of the electric grid for dangerous electrical arcing that could start wildfires. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

As climate change leads to larger and more frequent wildfires, researchers at ORNL are using sensors, drones and machine learning to both prevent fires and reduce their damage to the electric grid.

MDF Exterior

ORNL scientists will present new technologies available for licensing during the annual Technology Innovation Showcase. The event is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 16, at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL’s Hardin Valley campus.

High voltage power lines carry electricity generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority to ORNL. Credit: Dobie Gillispie/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL and the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, are joining forces to advance decarbonization technologies from discovery through deployment through a new memorandum of understanding, or MOU.

ORNL scientists used an electron beam for precision machining of nanoscale materials. Cubes were milled to change their shape and could also be removed from an array. Credit: Kevin Roccapriore/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Drilling with the beam of an electron microscope, scientists at ORNL precisely machined tiny electrically conductive cubes that can interact with light and organized them in patterned structures that confine and relay light’s electromagnetic signal.

Mars Rover 2020

More than 50 current employees and recent retirees from ORNL received Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor Awards from Secretary Jennifer Granholm in January as part of project teams spanning the national laboratory system. The annual awards recognized 21 teams and three individuals for service and contributions to DOE’s mission and to the benefit of the nation.

Merlin Theodore, advanced fibers manufacturing group leader and Tuskegee University alumna, will guide Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s collaboration with the university, through which students and researchers work together to advance the development of bioderived materials. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL and Tuskegee University have formed a partnership to develop new biodegradable materials for use in buildings, transportation and biomedical applications.

Pengfei Cao

Pengfei Cao, a polymer chemist at ORNL, has been chosen to receive a 2021 Young Investigator Award from the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Division of the American Chemical Society, or ACS PMSE.

ORNL has licensed its high-powered wireless vehicle charging technology to HEVO, including the Oak Ridge Converter, which reduces the size and increases the efficiency of grid-to-vehicle power transfer infrastructure. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

ORNL has licensed its wireless charging technology for electric vehicles to Brooklyn-based HEVO. The system provides the world’s highest power levels in the smallest package and could one day enable electric vehicles to be charged as they are driven at highway speeds.

A new tool that simulates the energy profile of every building in America will give homeowners, utilities and companies a quick way to determine energy use and cost-effective retrofits that can reduce energy and carbon emissions.

A new tool that simulates the energy profile of every building in America will give homeowners, utilities and companies a quick way to determine energy use and cost-effective retrofits that can reduce energy and carbon emissions.