Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Clean Energy (47)
- (-) Materials (29)
- (-) National Security (19)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (2)
- Advanced Manufacturing (2)
- Biology and Environment (18)
- Computational Engineering (1)
- Computer Science (2)
- Fusion and Fission (2)
- Isotopes (14)
- Materials for Computing (3)
- Neutron Science (7)
- Quantum information Science (1)
- Supercomputing (18)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Biomedical (5)
- (-) Cybersecurity (17)
- (-) Energy Storage (48)
- (-) Isotopes (6)
- (-) Machine Learning (10)
- (-) Molten Salt (2)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (46)
- Advanced Reactors (6)
- Artificial Intelligence (13)
- Big Data (2)
- Bioenergy (21)
- Biology (8)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Buildings (14)
- Chemical Sciences (22)
- Clean Water (2)
- Climate Change (11)
- Composites (6)
- Computer Science (23)
- Coronavirus (8)
- Critical Materials (11)
- Decarbonization (19)
- Environment (25)
- Exascale Computing (2)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Frontier (2)
- Fusion (6)
- Grid (17)
- High-Performance Computing (5)
- ITER (1)
- Materials (49)
- Materials Science (47)
- Mathematics (1)
- Mercury (2)
- Microscopy (16)
- Nanotechnology (26)
- National Security (23)
- Net Zero (2)
- Neutron Science (28)
- Nuclear Energy (18)
- Partnerships (14)
- Physics (22)
- Polymers (11)
- Quantum Computing (2)
- Quantum Science (11)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (10)
- Simulation (1)
- Space Exploration (2)
- Summit (4)
- Sustainable Energy (31)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
- Transportation (29)
Media Contacts
![Alexey Serov researches ways to improve hydrogen fuel cells and materials and the electrolysis process. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P14038.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=JCWAG0sI)
It would be a challenge for any scientist to match Alexey Serov’s rate of inventions related to green hydrogen fuel. But this researcher at ORNL has 84 patents with at least 35 more under review, so his electrifying pace is unlikely to slow down any time soon.
![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.
![Sam Hollifield displays a prototype of the Secure Hijack, Intrusion and Exploit Layered Detector, or SHIELD, the device monitoring the cybersecurity of the semi-truck. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/holifield_0.jpg?h=b831e800&itok=CqXSXu3l)
As vehicles gain technological capabilities, car manufacturers are using an increasing number of computers and sensors to improve situational awareness and enhance the driving experience.
![When exposed to radiation, electrons produced within molten zinc chloride, or ZnCl2, can be observed in three distinct singly occupied molecular orbital states, plus a more diffuse, delocalized state. Credit: Hung H. Nguyen/University of Iowa](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/bernard-wide_0.png?h=dba5e3ef&itok=DgnYZ_Vy)
In a finding that helps elucidate how molten salts in advanced nuclear reactors might behave, scientists have shown how electrons interacting with the ions of the molten salt can form three states with different properties. Understanding these states can help predict the impact of radiation on the performance of salt-fueled reactors.
![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.
![ORNL’s David Sholl is director of the new DOE Energy Earthshot Non-Equilibrium Energy Transfer for Efficient Reactions center to help decarbonize the industrial chemical industry. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2021-P04915.David_.Sholl_.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=qT7ZMJX2)
ORNL has been selected to lead an Energy Earthshot Research Center, or EERC, focused on developing chemical processes that use sustainable methods instead of burning fossil fuels to radically reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions to stem climate change and limit the crisis of a rapidly warming planet.
![The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced the establishment of its Center for AI Security Research, or CAISER, to address threats already present as governments and industries around the world adopt artificial intelligence and take advantage of the benefits it promises in data processing, operational efficiencies and decision-making. Credit: Rachel Green/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/CAISER%20image2.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=VcPbKvuS)
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced the establishment of the Center for AI Security Research, or CAISER, to address threats already present as governments and industries around the world adopt artificial intelligence and take advantage of the benefits it promises in data processing, operational efficiencies and decision-making.
![As a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tugba Turnaoglu is investigating new thermal energy storage materials and ways to incorporate them into cost-effective and energy-efficient heat pump designs. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P11283.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=vr7C7cTK)
The common sounds in the background of daily life – like a refrigerator’s hum, an air conditioner’s whoosh and a heat pump’s buzz – often go unnoticed. These noises, however, are the heartbeat of a healthy building and integral for comfort and convenience.
![Steve Nolan, left, who manages many ORNL facilities for United Cleanup Oak Ridge, and Carl Dukes worked closely together to accommodate bringing members of the public into the Oak Ridge Reservation to collect distant images from overhead for the BRIAR biometric recognition project. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P09038.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=76hibHXl)
Carl Dukes’ career as an adept communicator got off to a slow start: He was about 5 years old when he spoke for the first time. “I’ve been making up for lost time ever since,” joked Dukes, a technical professional at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![ZEISS Head of Additive Manufacturing Technology Claus Hermannstaedter, left, and ORNL Interim Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Science and Technology Rick Raines sign a licensing agreement that allows ORNL’s machine-learning algorithm, Simurgh, to be used for rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components with industrial X-ray computed tomography, or CT. Using machine learning in CT scanning is expected to reduce the time and cost of inspections of 3D-printed parts by more than ten times.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/ZEISS%20signing%20handshake_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=4J8nVrPc)
A licensing agreement between the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and research partner ZEISS will enable industrial X-ray computed tomography, or CT, to perform rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components using ORNL’s machine