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A new method to produce large, monolayer single-crystal-like graphene films more than a foot long relies on harnessing a “survival of the fittest” competition among crystals. The novel technique, developed by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, may open new opportunities for growing the high-quality two-dimensional materials necessary for long-awaited practical applications.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Halil Tekinalp combines silanes and polylactic acid to create supertough renewable plastic.

A novel method developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory creates supertough renewable plastic with improved manufacturability. Working with polylactic acid, a biobased plastic often used in packaging, textiles, biomedical implants and 3D printing, the research team added tiny amo...

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To improve models for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and underground storage of carbon dioxide, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists used neutrons to understand how water flows through fractured rock.
shape-memory conductors

A novel approach that creates a renewable, leathery material—programmed to remember its shape—may offer a low-cost alternative to conventional conductors for applications in sensors and robotics. To make the bio-based, shape-memory material, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists streamlined a solvent-free process that mixes rubber with lignin—the by-product of woody plants used to make biofuels.

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A novel approach for studying magnetic behavior in a material called alpha-ruthenium trichloride may have implications for quantum computing. By suppressing the material’s magnetic order, scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee observed be...
Sheng Dai of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Sheng Dai of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been named to a list of the most highly cited researchers in the world. Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers is an annual list that recognizes some of the world’s leading 

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An ultra-high-resolution technique used for the first time to study polymer fibers that trap uranium in seawater may cause researchers to rethink the best methods to harvest this potential fuel for nuclear reactors. The work of a team led by Carter Abney, a W...
ORNL’s Nancy Dudney (center) and former lab researchers Jane Howe and Chengdu Liang were among the developers of lithium-sulfur materials that have been licensed to Solid Power for use in next-generation batteries.

The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Solid Power Inc. of Louisville, Colo., have signed an exclusive agreement licensing lithium-sulfur materials for next-generation batteries. The company licensed a portfolio of ORNL patents relating to lit...

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Atomic-level imaging of catalysts by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could help manufacturers lower the cost and improve the performance of emission-free fuel cell technologies.
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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received six R&D 100 Awards, increasing the lab’s total to 193 since the award’s inception in 1963. The competition, sponsored by R&D Magazine, recognizes advances in the nation’s ...