![White car (Porsche Taycan) with the hood popped is inside the building with an american flag on the wall.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-06/2024-P09317.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=m6sQhZRq)
Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Clean Energy (20)
- (-) Neutron Science (24)
- Advanced Manufacturing (4)
- Biology and Environment (13)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (2)
- Computer Science (4)
- Fusion and Fission (2)
- Fusion Energy (6)
- Isotopes (1)
- Materials (26)
- Materials for Computing (8)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (1)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (4)
- Quantum information Science (1)
- Supercomputing (8)
- Transportation Systems (1)
News Topics
- (-) Artificial Intelligence (2)
- (-) Biomedical (3)
- (-) Climate Change (6)
- (-) Materials Science (12)
- (-) Mercury (1)
- (-) Microscopy (3)
- (-) Neutron Science (23)
- (-) Physics (1)
- (-) Statistics (1)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (23)
- Big Data (1)
- Bioenergy (3)
- Biology (2)
- Biotechnology (1)
- Buildings (13)
- Chemical Sciences (2)
- Clean Water (4)
- Composites (9)
- Computer Science (9)
- Coronavirus (2)
- Critical Materials (4)
- Decarbonization (4)
- Energy Storage (23)
- Environment (16)
- Grid (15)
- High-Performance Computing (1)
- Hydropower (2)
- Machine Learning (2)
- Materials (15)
- Mathematics (1)
- Nanotechnology (2)
- Net Zero (1)
- Nuclear Energy (2)
- Polymers (5)
- Quantum Science (1)
- Simulation (1)
- Space Exploration (3)
- Sustainable Energy (27)
- Transportation (27)
Media Contacts
![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.
![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.
![Even small movements of hydrogen, shown in yellow, were found to cause large energy shifts in the attached iron atoms, shown in silver, which could be of interest in creating novel chemical reactions. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/Feb_nscd_storytip_1.png?h=b69e0e0e&itok=kwLq6_Wl)
Researchers from Yale University and ORNL collaborated on neutron scattering experiments to study hydrogen atom locations and their effects on iron in a compound similar to those commonly used in industrial catalysts.
![Field emission scanning electron microscopy reveals the microstructure of the porous activated carbon that can confine hydrogen at the nanoscale. Credit: Joaquin Silvestre-Albero](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/clathrate.png?h=3873714b&itok=0D44qzl0)
Neutron scattering techniques were used as part of a study of a novel nanoreactor material that grows crystalline hydrogen clathrates, or HCs, capable of storing hydrogen.
![The AI-driven HyperCT platform has three primary points of articulation that can rotate a sample in almost any direction, eliminating the need for human intervention and significantly reducing lengthy experiment times. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-07/acquisition_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=9M0eCGXt)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are developing a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence device for neutron scattering called Hyperspectral Computed Tomography, or HyperCT.
![Neutron computed tomography reveals how water is constrained to travel only along certain strands of a special yarn coated with a water-wicking compound and a biocatalytic enzyme. Credit: Yuxuan Zhang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/Bio-yarn.png?h=c7dca165&itok=RGpEPyTV)
Textile engineering researchers from North Carolina State University used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify a special wicking mechanism in a type of cotton yarn that allows the fibers to control the flow of liquid across certain strands.
![ORNL researchers used neutrons at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source to analyze modified high-entropy metal alloys with enhanced strength and ductility, or the ability to stretch, under high-stress without failing. Credit: Rui Feng/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-10/HEA%20alloy%20story%20tipe%20image%20PNG%20File_0.png?h=1356c768&itok=3en3kAQ0)
![The REVISE-II modeling tool developed at ORNL supports decision-making for electric vehicle charging infrastructure development along interstate highways in support of intercity travel. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-07/2011-P01916_0.jpg?h=7625acff&itok=oKCqeJ5P)
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a nationwide modeling tool to help infrastructure planners decide where and when to locate electric vehicle charging stations along interstate highways. The goal is to encourage the adoption of EVs for cross-country travel.