![Sphere that has the top right fourth removed (exposed) Colors from left are orange, dark blue with orange dots, light blue with horizontal lines, then black. Inside the exposure is green and black with boxes.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-06/slicer.jpg?h=56311bf6&itok=bCZz09pJ)
Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Isotopes (4)
- (-) National Security (7)
- (-) Neutron Science (32)
- Advanced Manufacturing (1)
- Biology and Environment (22)
- Clean Energy (65)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (1)
- Computer Science (1)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (2)
- Fusion and Fission (14)
- Fusion Energy (7)
- Materials (36)
- Materials for Computing (7)
- Mathematics (1)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (15)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Supercomputing (18)
- Transportation Systems (2)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Biomedical (3)
- (-) Climate Change (2)
- (-) Coronavirus (1)
- (-) Energy Storage (4)
- (-) Fusion (2)
- (-) Neutron Science (32)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (4)
- (-) Transportation (2)
- Advanced Reactors (2)
- Artificial Intelligence (1)
- Big Data (2)
- Bioenergy (2)
- Biology (2)
- Chemical Sciences (1)
- Computer Science (4)
- Cybersecurity (3)
- Environment (4)
- Grid (2)
- Irradiation (1)
- Isotopes (6)
- Materials (6)
- Materials Science (8)
- Microscopy (1)
- Nanotechnology (3)
- National Security (4)
- Partnerships (1)
- Physics (3)
- Quantum Science (2)
- Security (3)
- Space Exploration (3)
- Summit (1)
- Sustainable Energy (1)
Media Contacts
![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.
![ORNL’s Yun Liu stands before one of the 10 laser comb-based beam diagnostics stations at the Spallation Neutron Source. The laser comb solves the longstanding problem of measuring changes in the beam across time. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/2023-P05174_0_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=MH2NQJPT)
When opportunity meets talent, great things happen. The laser comb developed at ORNL serves as such an example.
![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.
![Jason Gardner, Sandra Davern and Peter Thornton have been elected fellows of AAAS. Credit: Laddy Fields/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/AAAS_2022%20Thumbnail_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=4TftuioC)
Three scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.
![State and Local Economic Development Award](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-01/FLCAward3_thumbnail.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=FKj_T8JY)
A partnership of ORNL, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee and TVA that aims to attract nuclear energy-related firms to Oak Ridge has been recognized with a state and local economic development award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.
![Field emission scanning electron microscopy reveals the microstructure of the porous activated carbon that can confine hydrogen at the nanoscale. Credit: Joaquin Silvestre-Albero](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/clathrate.png?h=3873714b&itok=0D44qzl0)
Neutron scattering techniques were used as part of a study of a novel nanoreactor material that grows crystalline hydrogen clathrates, or HCs, capable of storing hydrogen.
![This diagram demonstrates how a concentrating solar thermal plant could use molten salts to store solar energy that could later be used to generate electricity. Credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/2022-G02085_Mcfarlane_ReducingSaltsCorrosiveEffect_STFIG_7nj_ForReview_Equipment%20v2_txt_0.jpg?h=995a696e&itok=bT3iWSgL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists recently demonstrated a low-temperature, safe route to purifying molten chloride salts that minimizes their ability to corrode metals. This method could make the salts useful for storing energy generated from the sun’s heat.