Skip to main content

News

ORNL engineer Canan Karakaya uses computational modeling to design and improve chemical reactors and how they are operated to convert methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia or ethanol into higher-value chemicals or energy-dense fuels. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Canan Karakaya, a R&D Staff member in the Chemical Process Scale-Up group at ORNL, was inspired to become a chemical engineer after she experienced a magical transformation that turned ammonia gas into ammonium nitrate, turning a liquid into white flakes gently floating through the air. 

Chelsea Chen, polymer physicist at ORNL, stands in front of an eight-channel potentiostat and temperature chamber used for battery and electrochemical testing. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Chelsea Chen, a polymer physicist at ORNL, is studying ion transport in solid electrolytes that could help electric vehicle battery charges last longer.

In a win for chemistry, inventors at ORNL have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, or CFRP, and later recovering all of its starting materials.

In a win for chemistry, inventors at ORNL have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, or CFRP, and later recovering all of its starting materials.

Rigoberto Advincula is a UT-ORNL Governor's Chair and leads the lab's Macromolecular Nanomaterials group. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

ORNL’s Tomás Rush examines a culture as part of his research into the plant-fungus relationship that can help or hinder ecosystem health. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

New computational framework speeds discovery of fungal metabolites, key to plant health and used in drug therapies and for other uses. 
 

Researchers at Corning have found that understanding the stability of the rings of atoms in glass materials can help predict the performance of glass products.

Corning uses neutron scattering to study the stability of different types of glass. Recently, researchers for the company have found that understanding the stability of the rings of atoms in glass materials can help predict the performance of glass products.

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

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.

2023 Top Science Achievements at SNS & HFIR

The 2023 top science achievements from HFIR and SNS feature a broad range of materials research published in high impact journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials.

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a 2023 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, or NAI.

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a 2023 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Advincula has been recognized for his 14 patents and 21 published filings related to nanomaterials, smart coatings and films, solid-state device fabrication and chemical additives.

Wire arc additive manufacturing allowed this robot arm at ORNL to transform metal wire into a complete steam turbine blade like those used in power plants. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at ORNL became the first to 3D-print large rotating steam turbine blades for generating energy in power plants.