Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Clean Energy (80)
- (-) Supercomputing (9)
- Advanced Manufacturing (12)
- Biology and Environment (11)
- Building Technologies (1)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (1)
- Computer Science (5)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Fusion and Fission (9)
- Fusion Energy (7)
- Isotopes (1)
- Materials (24)
- Materials for Computing (3)
- National Security (8)
- Neutron Science (3)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (13)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (1)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (33)
- (-) Energy Storage (33)
- (-) Fusion (1)
- (-) Grid (21)
- (-) Machine Learning (3)
- (-) Mercury (2)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (2)
- (-) Polymers (7)
- (-) Summit (7)
- Advanced Reactors (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (2)
- Big Data (7)
- Bioenergy (4)
- Biology (4)
- Biomedical (6)
- Biotechnology (1)
- Buildings (19)
- Chemical Sciences (2)
- Clean Water (5)
- Climate Change (11)
- Composites (9)
- Computer Science (27)
- Coronavirus (8)
- Critical Materials (8)
- Cybersecurity (2)
- Decarbonization (12)
- Environment (25)
- Exascale Computing (2)
- Frontier (2)
- High-Performance Computing (6)
- Hydropower (2)
- Materials (16)
- Materials Science (11)
- Mathematics (2)
- Microscopy (3)
- Nanotechnology (2)
- National Security (1)
- Net Zero (2)
- Neutron Science (1)
- Quantum Computing (4)
- Quantum Science (3)
- Security (2)
- Simulation (3)
- Space Exploration (3)
- Statistics (1)
- Sustainable Energy (34)
- Transportation (36)
Media Contacts
![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.
![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.
![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’s additive manufacturing compression molding, or AMCM, technology can produce composite-based, lightweight finished parts for airplanes, drones or vehicles in minutes and could acclerate decarbonization for the automobile and aeropsace industries.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/2022-P14785%20%281%29%20%281%29.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=Gg3QSMPW)
An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-developed advanced manufacturing technology, AMCM, was recently licensed by Orbital Composites and enables the rapid production of composite-based components, which could accelerate the decarbonization of vehicles
![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.
![Benefit breakdown, 3D printed vs. wood molds](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2017-P07318%5B74%5D.jpg?h=1116cd87&itok=UNsJX4Uv)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have conducted a comprehensive life cycle, cost and carbon emissions analysis on 3D-printed molds for precast concrete and determined the method is economically beneficial compared to conventional wood molds.
![ORNL researcher Zhijia Du inserts a newly developed liquid electrolyte material into a battery pouch cell. The formulation extends the life of extreme-fast-charging batteries like those used in electric vehicles. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/du_0.jpg?h=d228da7b&itok=k918MIXQ)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are taking fast charging for electric vehicles, or EVs, to new extremes. A team of battery scientists recently developed a lithium-ion battery material that not only recharges 80% of its capacity in 10
![Jonathan Harter, a technical professional in ORNL’s Engineering Science and Technology Directorate, uses a robot and other automated methods to disassemble electric vehicle batteries for recycling or reuse in the electric grid. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/2021-P06328_0.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=elZeutaQ)
After being stabilized in an ambulance as he struggled to breathe, Jonathan Harter hit a low point. It was 2020, he was very sick with COVID-19, and his job as a lab technician at ORNL was ending along with his research funding.
![ORNL researchers have developed a new pressing method, shown as blue circle on right, that produces a more uniform solid electrolyte than the traditionally processed material with more voids, shown as gray circle on left. The material can be integrated into a battery system, center, for improved stability and rate performance. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/Electrolyte.StoryTip_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=PIYcf5iS)
ORNL scientists found that a small tweak created big performance improvements in a type of solid-state battery, a technology considered vital to broader electric vehicle adoption.
![Mali Balasubramanian made a rewarding mid-career shift to focus on studying new battery materials and systems using X-ray spectroscopy and other methods. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/Balasubramanian.portrait_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=pK7rBnui)
Having passed the midpoint of his career, physicist Mali Balasubramanian was part of a tight-knit team at a premier research facility for X-ray spectroscopy. But then another position opened, at ORNL— one that would take him in a new direction.