Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) National Security (31)
- (-) Neutron Science (24)
- Advanced Manufacturing (7)
- Biology and Environment (96)
- Biology and Soft Matter (1)
- Building Technologies (2)
- Clean Energy (123)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (3)
- Computational Biology (2)
- Computational Engineering (3)
- Computer Science (15)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (29)
- Fusion Energy (15)
- Isotopes (2)
- Materials (58)
- Materials for Computing (15)
- Mathematics (1)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (20)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (7)
- Supercomputing (144)
News Topics
- (-) Advanced Reactors (2)
- (-) Clean Water (2)
- (-) Climate Change (5)
- (-) Computer Science (31)
- (-) Frontier (2)
- (-) Fusion (2)
- (-) Machine Learning (15)
- (-) Polymers (1)
- (-) Summit (7)
- (-) Sustainable Energy (4)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (8)
- Artificial Intelligence (18)
- Big Data (8)
- Bioenergy (9)
- Biology (9)
- Biomedical (13)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Buildings (1)
- Chemical Sciences (4)
- Composites (1)
- Coronavirus (10)
- Cybersecurity (19)
- Decarbonization (4)
- Energy Storage (8)
- Environment (13)
- Exascale Computing (1)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Grid (6)
- High-Performance Computing (6)
- Materials (16)
- Materials Science (24)
- Mathematics (1)
- Microscopy (3)
- Nanotechnology (11)
- National Security (34)
- Neutron Science (99)
- Nuclear Energy (7)
- Partnerships (4)
- Physics (10)
- Quantum Computing (1)
- Quantum Science (8)
- Security (12)
- Simulation (1)
- Space Exploration (3)
- Transportation (7)
Media Contacts
![The illustrations show how the correlation between lattice distortion and proton binding energy in a material affects proton conduction in different environments. Mitigating this interaction could help researchers improve the ionic conductivity of solid materials.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-05/Figure_Rosenthal_5-1-19_0.png?h=73c01546&itok=-tjVhDfm)
Ionic conduction involves the movement of ions from one location to another inside a material. The ions travel through point defects, which are irregularities in the otherwise consistent arrangement of atoms known as the crystal lattice. This sometimes sluggish process can limit the performance and efficiency of fuel cells, batteries, and other energy storage technologies.
![ORNL staff members (from left) Ashley Shields, Michael Galloway, Ketan Maheshwari and Andrew Miskowiec are collaborating on a project focused on predicting and analyzing crystal structures of new uranium oxide phases. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/teamphotoforhighlight_0.jpg?h=a00326b7&itok=O4yDtVj6)
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working to understand both the complex nature of uranium and the various oxide forms it can take during processing steps that might occur throughout the nuclear fuel cycle.