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![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.
![2018-P07635 BL-6 user - Univ of Guelph-6004R_sm[2].jpg 2018-P07635 BL-6 user - Univ of Guelph-6004R_sm[2].jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2018-P07635%20BL-6%20user%20-%20Univ%20of%20Guelph-6004R_sm%5B2%5D.jpg?itok=DUdZNt_q)
A team of scientists, led by University of Guelph professor John Dutcher, are using neutrons at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source to unlock the secrets of natural nanoparticles that could be used to improve medicines.
![AK_Steel_story-tip.jpg AK_Steel_story-tip.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/AK_Steel_story-tip.jpg?itok=iW4s8JKK)
![Postdoctoral researcher Cory Knoot prepares a sample of blue-green algae for neutron scattering experiment on the Bio-SANS instrument at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. Credit: Kelley Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy Postdoctoral researcher Cory Knoot prepares a sample of blue-green algae for neutron scattering experiment on the Bio-SANS instrument at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. Credit: Kelley Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/neu.png?itok=iZWH06Xo)
![ORNL_neutrons_low-barrierH.png ORNL_neutrons_low-barrierH.png](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/ORNL_neutrons_low-barrierH.png?itok=M_uAzb9a)
An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led team has observed how a prolific class of antibiotics may be losing its effectiveness as certain bacteria develop drug resistance by acquiring enzymes known as aminoglycoside modifying enzymes. Aminoglycosides are commonly used in antibiotics to tre...
![Using neutrons, an ORNL research team studied the protein structure of bacteria-produced enzymes called beta-lactamases by examining one of them to better understand how resistant bacteria behave. Using neutrons, an ORNL research team studied the protein structure of bacteria-produced enzymes called beta-lactamases by examining one of them to better understand how resistant bacteria behave.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/news/images/Neutrons-Antibacterial_breakdown_2.png?itok=KciUjook)