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Media Contacts
![Two green oak leaves with other matter in two circles above them. To the right, a yellow blob. To the left, a brown material inside a bowl.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-06/Tan%20background%20-%20no%20words%20%281%29.png?h=a9a76387&itok=z1mNs7GY)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists ingeniously created a sustainable, soft material by combining rubber with woody reinforcements and incorporating “smart” linkages between the components that unlock on demand.
![An international team using neutrons set the first benchmark (one nanosecond) for a polymer-electrolyte and lithium-salt mixture. Findings could produce safer, more powerful lithium batteries. Credit: Phoenix Pleasant/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/roost.jpg?h=4f43c43c&itok=_42L5o3J)
An international team using neutrons set the first benchmark (one nanosecond) for a polymer-electrolyte and lithium-salt mixture. Findings could produce safer, more powerful lithium batteries.
![Researchers have shown how an all-solid lithium-based electrolyte material can be used to develop fast charging, long-range batteries for electric vehicles that are also safer than conventional designs. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/Lui_solid_state_0.png?h=27870e4a&itok=hd5IA-bH)
Currently, the biggest hurdle for electric vehicles, or EVs, is the development of advanced battery technology to extend driving range, safety and reliability.
![Neutron scattering experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source revealed how the dynamics between copper and oxygen make a special type of enzyme excel at breaking down biomass. Insights could lead to lowering the cost of biofuel production. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/23-G02576_Meilleur_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=jPIOwV6b)
Nonfood, plant-based biofuels have potential as a green alternative to fossil fuels, but the enzymes required for production are too inefficient and costly to produce. However, new research is shining a light on enzymes from fungi that could make biofuels economically viable.
![ORNL researchers used diamonds to compress materials to 1.2 million times ambient pressure and software to remove signal interference and extract data on pressure-induced atomic structures. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/23-G03399_DiamondAnvil_proof3_red_beams_0.png?h=36fc5f13&itok=cOUv6W8n)
For decades, scientists sought a way to apply the outstanding analytical capabilities of neutrons to materials under pressures approaching those surrounding the Earth’s core.
![This newly manufactured fixed guide vane of a hydropower turbine system was printed at the DOE Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/2018-P00570_0.png?h=82f92a78&itok=9y4_5upC)
A new report published by ORNL assessed how advanced manufacturing and materials, such as 3D printing and novel component coatings, could offer solutions to modernize the existing fleet and design new approaches to hydropower.
![Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed an eco-friendly foam insulation for improved building efficiency. Credit: Chad Malone/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-03/foam_thumbnail.png?h=b6717701&itok=O0z-knmD)
Scientists at ORNL developed a competitive, eco-friendly alternative made without harmful blowing agents.
![Through the Honnold Foundation and Casa Pueblo, solar panels are installed in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, and hooked to microgrids with battery storage. ORNL researchers are developing a microgrid orchestrator to manage the microgrids together for increased long-term electrical reliability. Credit: Fabio Andrade](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-03/solar.mountains.roof__0.png?h=707772c7&itok=_-SBBq9v)
ORNL researchers Ben Ollis and Max Ferrari will be in Adjuntas to join the March 18 festivities but also to hammer out more technical details of their contribution to the project: making the microgrids even more reliable.
![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 researchers have developed a way to manage car batteries of different types and sizes as energy storage for the power grid. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/Grid.EV%20battery%20storage%20graphic_0.png?h=b33b14b1&itok=nZ7g5mNA)
When aging vehicle batteries lack the juice to power your car anymore, they may still hold energy. Yet it’s tough to find new uses for lithium-ion batteries with different makers, ages and sizes. A solution is urgently needed because battery recycling options are scarce.