Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Materials (33)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (4)
- Advanced Manufacturing (13)
- Biology and Environment (20)
- Building Technologies (2)
- Clean Energy (95)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computational Engineering (2)
- Computer Science (10)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Fusion and Fission (1)
- Fusion Energy (3)
- Isotopes (3)
- Materials for Computing (8)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (9)
- Neutron Science (28)
- Quantum information Science (3)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
- Supercomputing (22)
- Transportation Systems (1)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (6)
- (-) Computer Science (1)
- (-) Decarbonization (1)
- (-) Energy Storage (8)
- (-) Materials (15)
- (-) Neutron Science (8)
- (-) Quantum Science (1)
- (-) Space Exploration (3)
- Advanced Reactors (6)
- Bioenergy (2)
- Biomedical (3)
- Buildings (1)
- Chemical Sciences (6)
- Clean Water (1)
- Composites (4)
- Coronavirus (1)
- Critical Materials (5)
- Environment (2)
- Fusion (5)
- Isotopes (3)
- Materials Science (25)
- Microscopy (9)
- Molten Salt (4)
- Nanotechnology (12)
- Nuclear Energy (18)
- Physics (9)
- Polymers (8)
- Quantum Computing (2)
- Sustainable Energy (3)
- Transportation (6)
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.
![Valuable chemicals are selectively produced from mixed plastic waste by an ORNL-developed plastic deconstruction process. Credit: Tomonori Saito, Md Arifuzzaman and Adam Malin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/Saito.Story_Tip2%20Image%20%28002%29_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=iUQBav7Y)
Almost 80% of plastic in the waste stream ends up in landfills or accumulates in the environment. Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have developed a technology that converts a conventionally unrecyclable mixture of plastic waste into useful chemicals, presenting a new strategy in the toolkit to combat global plastic waste.
![A new method to control quantum states in a material is shown. The electric field induces polarization switching of the ferroelectric substrate, resulting in different magnetic and topological states. Credit: Mina Yoon, Fernando Reboredo, Jacquelyn DeMink/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/pnglbernardstorytip.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=NOT32zpa)
An advance in a topological insulator material — whose interior behaves like an electrical insulator but whose surface behaves like a conductor — could revolutionize the fields of next-generation electronics and quantum computing, according to scientists at ORNL.
![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.
![Andrew Ullman, Distinguished Staff Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is using chemistry to devise a better battery](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-04/2021-p11900.jpg?h=83468474&itok=EBMfr0Sn)
Andrew Ullman, Distinguished Staff Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is using chemistry to devise a better battery
![Alice Perrin is a Distinguished Staff Fellow and materials scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-03/2021-P04764_2.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=Qs5DtUY1)
Alice Perrin is passionate about scientific research, but also beans — as in legumes.
![Heat is typically carried through a material by vibrations known as phonons. In some crystals, however, different atomic motions — known as phasons — carry heat three times faster and farther. This illustration shows phasons made by rearranging atoms, shown by arrows. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/23-G01840_Phason_Manly_proof3_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=3NpjriWi)
Warming a crystal of the mineral fresnoite, ORNL scientists discovered that excitations called phasons carried heat three times farther and faster than phonons, the excitations that usually carry heat through a material.
![ORNL Weinberg Fellow Addis Fuhr uses quantum chemistry and machine learning methods to advance new materials. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/2022-P00820%20%281%29_1.jpg?h=b69e0e0e&itok=CScyCYZg)
When Addis Fuhr was growing up in Bakersfield, California, he enjoyed visiting the mall to gaze at crystals and rocks in the gem store.
![Researchers captured atomic-level insights on the rare-earth mineral monazite to inform future design of flotation collector molecules, illustrated above, that can aid in the recovery of critical materials. Credit: Chad Malone/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-01/float.jpg?h=60f9f39d&itok=i2CRqyBK)
Critical Materials Institute researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Arizona State University studied the mineral monazite, an important source of rare-earth elements, to enhance methods of recovering critical materials for energy, defense and manufacturing applications.
![A team of ORNL researchers used neutron diffraction experiments to study the 3D-printed ACMZ alloy and observed a phenomenon called “load shuffling” that could inform the design of stronger, better-performing lightweight materials for vehicles. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-01/loadShuffle01_0_0.png?h=9651c94c&itok=FIdoRoNe)
ORNL researchers have identified a mechanism in a 3D-printed alloy – termed “load shuffling” — that could enable the design of better-performing lightweight materials for vehicles.