Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Clean Energy (85)
- (-) Materials (80)
- Advanced Manufacturing (5)
- Biology and Environment (15)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (1)
- Computer Science (6)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Fuel Cycle Science and Technology (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (29)
- Fusion Energy (10)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (25)
- Materials for Computing (10)
- National Security (23)
- Neutron Science (104)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (41)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Supercomputing (73)
- Transportation Systems (2)
News Topics
- (-) Artificial Intelligence (13)
- (-) Isotopes (13)
- (-) Neutron Science (42)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (22)
- (-) Quantum Computing (3)
- (-) Transportation (69)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (89)
- Advanced Reactors (9)
- Big Data (7)
- Bioenergy (30)
- Biology (12)
- Biomedical (10)
- Biotechnology (4)
- Buildings (36)
- Chemical Sciences (33)
- Clean Water (10)
- Climate Change (23)
- Composites (19)
- Computer Science (36)
- Coronavirus (14)
- Critical Materials (19)
- Cybersecurity (10)
- Decarbonization (34)
- Energy Storage (86)
- Environment (64)
- Exascale Computing (3)
- Fossil Energy (2)
- Frontier (3)
- Fusion (7)
- Grid (41)
- High-Performance Computing (9)
- Hydropower (2)
- Irradiation (1)
- ITER (1)
- Machine Learning (10)
- Materials (94)
- Materials Science (90)
- Mathematics (3)
- Mercury (3)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Microscopy (29)
- Molten Salt (3)
- Nanotechnology (41)
- National Security (6)
- Net Zero (3)
- Partnerships (16)
- Physics (29)
- Polymers (21)
- Quantum Science (12)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (7)
- Simulation (4)
- Space Exploration (5)
- Statistics (1)
- Summit (6)
- Sustainable Energy (71)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (5)
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.
![A collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Caterpillar Inc. will investigate using methanol as an alternative fuel source for marine vessels. Members of the research team kicked off the project with the installation of a 6-cylinder engine at the Department of Energy’s National Transportation Research Center at ORNL.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P19061%5B26%5D.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=F0MRmlmI)
ORNL and Caterpillar Inc. have entered into a cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, to investigate using methanol as an alternative fuel source for four-stroke internal combustion marine engines.
![Eric Nafziger, a technical staff member at the National Transportation Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Hardin Valley Campus, supports the installation of the largest alternative fuels research engines for marine and rail in the U.S. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P16593.jpeg?h=a73d1746&itok=jpdVXbUY)
Within the Department of Energy’s National Transportation Research Center at ORNL’s Hardin Valley Campus, scientists investigate engines designed to help the U.S. pivot to a clean mobility future.
![ORNL researchers Lu Yu and Yaocai Bai examine vials that contain a chemical solution that causes the cobalt and lithium to separate from a spent battery, followed by a second stage when cobalt precipitates in the bottom. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/2023-P12386_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=CVJOHRVM)
Used lithium-ion batteries from cell phones, laptops and a growing number of electric vehicles are piling up, but options for recycling them remain limited mostly to burning or chemically dissolving shredded batteries.
![Conceptual art depicts machine learning finding an ideal material for capacitive energy storage. Its carbon framework (black) has functional groups with oxygen (pink) and nitrogen (turquoise). Credit: Tao Wang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/Press%20release%20image_0.jpg?h=706c9a24&itok=zX1lC5ud)
Guided by machine learning, chemists at ORNL designed a record-setting carbonaceous supercapacitor material that stores four times more energy than the best commercial material.
![ORNL researcher Anne Campbell will present a paper in Korea next year on materials support of carbon-free nuclear energy. Credit: Adam Malin, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/nuclear-future-72dpi_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=HCXlz2mw)
Anne Campbell, a researcher at ORNL, recently won the Young Leaders Professional Development Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, or TMS, and has been chosen as the first recipient of the Young Leaders International Scholar Program award from TMS and the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, or KIM.
![Group image](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/2023-P11446_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=bk8wRZSk)
In response to a renewed international interest in molten salt reactors, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel technique to visualize molten salt intrusion in graphite.
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers took a connected and automated vehicle out of the virtual proving ground and onto a public road to determine energy savings when it is operated under predictive control strategies. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/CAV_image02_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=0cK78ri0)
ORNL researchers determined that a connected and automated vehicle, or CAV, traveling on a multilane highway with integrated traffic light timing control can maximize energy efficiency and achieve up to 27% savings.
![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.
![When exposed to radiation, electrons produced within molten zinc chloride, or ZnCl2, can be observed in three distinct singly occupied molecular orbital states, plus a more diffuse, delocalized state. Credit: Hung H. Nguyen/University of Iowa](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/bernard-wide_0.png?h=dba5e3ef&itok=DgnYZ_Vy)
In a finding that helps elucidate how molten salts in advanced nuclear reactors might behave, scientists have shown how electrons interacting with the ions of the molten salt can form three states with different properties. Understanding these states can help predict the impact of radiation on the performance of salt-fueled reactors.