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Media Contacts
![ORNL collaborator Hsiu-Wen Wang led the neutron scattering experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source to probe complex electrolyte solutions that challenge nuclear waste processing at Hanford and other sites. Credit: Genevieve Martin/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-05/2019-P01240_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=RLLi1M-g)
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University teamed up to investigate the complex dynamics of low-water liquids that challenge nuclear waste processing at federal cleanup sites.
![Scott Smith holding machined aluminum part](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-04/Scott%20SMith%201_0.png?h=250d6eb1&itok=qG5uPX7O)
When Scott Smith looks at a machine tool, he thinks not about what the powerful equipment used to shape metal can do – he’s imagining what it could do with the right added parts and strategies. As ORNL’s leader for a newly formed group, Machining and Machine Tool Research, Smith will have the opportunity to do just that.
![The illustrations show how the correlation between lattice distortion and proton binding energy in a material affects proton conduction in different environments. Mitigating this interaction could help researchers improve the ionic conductivity of solid materials.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-05/Figure_Rosenthal_5-1-19_0.png?h=73c01546&itok=-tjVhDfm)
Ionic conduction involves the movement of ions from one location to another inside a material. The ions travel through point defects, which are irregularities in the otherwise consistent arrangement of atoms known as the crystal lattice. This sometimes sluggish process can limit the performance and efficiency of fuel cells, batteries, and other energy storage technologies.
![Low-cost, compact, printed sensor that can collect and transmit data on electrical appliances for better load monitoring](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/2019-P01301_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=y0S4bq0p)
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a low-cost, printed, flexible sensor that can wrap around power cables to precisely monitor electrical loads from household appliances to support grid operations.
![Desalination diagram](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-04/DesalDiagram-_0.jpg?h=d4f5ec8a&itok=-yhECJ4V)
A team of scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory used carbon nanotubes to improve a desalination process that attracts and removes ionic compounds such as salt from water using charged electrodes.
![In ORNL’s Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis Laboratory, Field makes use of a transmission electron microscope to examine a sample made with a focused ion beam. He investigates the defects produced in a FeCrAl alloy bombarded with neutrons in HFIR. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/2018-P08721%20%28first%29.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=sRzTcetb)
Kevin Field at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory synthesizes and scrutinizes materials for nuclear power systems that must perform safely and efficiently over decades of irradiation.
![Alex Roschli in front of BAAM](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/2018-p09585.jpg?h=af53702d&itok=YVD6zmU4)
Alex Roschli is no stranger to finding himself in unique situations. After all, the early career researcher in ORNL’s Manufacturing Systems Research group bears a last name that only 29 other people share in the United States, and he’s certain he’s the only Roschli (a moniker that hails from Switzerland) with the first name Alex.
![The concrete parts are installed in a residential and commercial tower (above center and below) on the site of the Domino Sugar Factory along the waterfront in Brooklyn. Windows in the tower resemble sugar crystals. Image credit: Gate Precast](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/392_4.jpg?h=2e111cc1&itok=PaciKdQX)
A residential and commercial tower under development in Brooklyn that is changing the New York City skyline has its roots in research at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![In this MXene electrode, choosing the appropriate solvent for the electrolyte can increase energy density significantly. This scanning electron microscopy image shows fine features of a film only 5 microns thick—approximately 10 times narrower than a human hair. Credit: Drexel University; image by Tyler Mathis](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/MXene%20electrode_0.jpg?h=e9daaebf&itok=YNpINGl2)
![carbon nanospikes carbon nanospikes](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/carbon_nanospikes.jpg?itok=D0GNAvH4)
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 1, 2019—ReactWell, LLC, has licensed a novel waste-to-fuel technology from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve energy conversion methods for cleaner, more efficient oil and gas, chemical and