![Debjani Singh](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-08/2024-P12408.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=bP5F6U4Y)
Filter News
Area of Research
News Topics
- (-) Energy Storage (31)
- (-) Neutron Science (27)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (31)
- Advanced Reactors (13)
- Artificial Intelligence (13)
- Big Data (17)
- Bioenergy (16)
- Biology (18)
- Biomedical (11)
- Biotechnology (3)
- Buildings (20)
- Chemical Sciences (11)
- Clean Water (13)
- Climate Change (23)
- Composites (9)
- Computer Science (40)
- Coronavirus (11)
- Critical Materials (12)
- Cybersecurity (3)
- Decarbonization (10)
- Environment (44)
- Exascale Computing (1)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Frontier (1)
- Fusion (9)
- Grid (21)
- High-Performance Computing (11)
- Hydropower (6)
- Irradiation (2)
- Isotopes (5)
- ITER (3)
- Machine Learning (12)
- Materials (35)
- Materials Science (34)
- Mathematics (2)
- Mercury (3)
- Microscopy (11)
- Molten Salt (5)
- Nanotechnology (12)
- National Security (3)
- Net Zero (2)
- Nuclear Energy (19)
- Partnerships (1)
- Physics (4)
- Polymers (9)
- Quantum Computing (4)
- Quantum Science (10)
- Security (1)
- Simulation (7)
- Space Exploration (10)
- Statistics (1)
- Summit (6)
- Sustainable Energy (45)
- Transportation (35)
Media Contacts
![ORNL researchers have developed a way to manage car batteries of different types and sizes as energy storage for the power grid. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/Grid.EV%20battery%20storage%20graphic_0.png?h=b33b14b1&itok=nZ7g5mNA)
When aging vehicle batteries lack the juice to power your car anymore, they may still hold energy. Yet it’s tough to find new uses for lithium-ion batteries with different makers, ages and sizes. A solution is urgently needed because battery recycling options are scarce.
![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.
![A multiport design allows a utility to easily interface with an EV truck stop to provide fast-charging at megawatt-scale. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/Megawatt.charging.graphic_0.jpg?h=a9b53d95&itok=5HOH7x2r)
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed architecture, software and control strategies for a futuristic EV truck stop that can draw megawatts of power and reduce carbon emissions.
![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.
![Researcher Sun Hongbin examines material changes to a battery made in the DOE’s Battery Manufacturing Facility using an ultrasound sensor. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-10/08-26-22%20Hongbin%20Sun%201_0.jpg?h=5e9da067&itok=WE_Tdrfc)
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using ultrasounds — usually associated with medical imaging — to check the health of an operating battery. The technique uses sensors as small as a thumbnail, which could be attached to a lithium-ion battery inside a car.
![Virginia-based battery technology company, BTRY, has licensed several electrolyte and thin-film coating technologies, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to make batteries with increased energy density, at lower cost, and with an improved safety profile in crashes. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/2021-P11907.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=dPCyvLmj)
Several electrolyte and thin-film coating technologies, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have been licensed by BTRY, a battery technology company based in Virginia, to make batteries with increased energy density, at lower cost, and with an improved safety profile in crashes.
![Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated center-of-mass scanning transmission electron microscopy to observe lithium along with heavier elements in battery materials at atomic resolution. Credit: Chad Malone/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/X2200362_Ashley%20Huff_PressReleaseIllustration_CM-04_0.png?h=8ad5a422&itok=zNjz98cr)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers demonstrated an electron microscopy technique for imaging lithium in energy storage materials, such as lithium ion batteries, at the atomic scale.
![Neutron computed tomography reveals how water is constrained to travel only along certain strands of a special yarn coated with a water-wicking compound and a biocatalytic enzyme. Credit: Yuxuan Zhang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/Bio-yarn.png?h=c7dca165&itok=RGpEPyTV)
Textile engineering researchers from North Carolina State University used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify a special wicking mechanism in a type of cotton yarn that allows the fibers to control the flow of liquid across certain strands.
![ORNL has developed the SolidPAC tool to help researchers design energy-dense, long-lived and safe solid-state batteries. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-01/SolidPac%20Battery_0.jpg?h=1819934d&itok=MvNKBb1v)
Scientists can speed the design of energy-dense solid-state batteries using a new tool created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.