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Media Contacts
![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.
![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.
![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)
![ORNL astrophysicist Raph Hix models the inner workings of supernovae on the world’s most powerful supercomputers.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/hix1.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=qCY4BdN6)
More than 1800 years ago, Chinese astronomers puzzled over the sudden appearance of a bright “guest star” in the sky, unaware that they were witnessing the cosmic forge of a supernova, an event repeated countless times scattered across the universe.
![An ORNL-developed graphite foam, which could be used in plasma-facing components in fusion reactors, performed well during testing at the Wendlestein 7-X stellarator in Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/W7-XPlasmaExposure_0.jpg?h=d5d04e3b&itok=uKiauhdF)
Scientists have tested a novel heat-shielding graphite foam, originally created at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator with promising results for use in plasma-facing components of fusion reactors.
![ORNL alanine_graphic.jpg ORNL alanine_graphic.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/ORNL%20alanine_graphic.jpg?itok=iRLfcOw-)
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 31, 2019—A new electron microscopy technique that detects the subtle changes in the weight of proteins at the nanoscale—while keeping the sample intact—could open a new pathway for deeper, more comprehensive studies of the basic building blocks of life.
![Picture2.png Picture2.png](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/Picture2_1.png?itok=IV4n9XEh)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists studying fuel cells as a potential alternative to internal combustion engines used sophisticated electron microscopy to investigate the benefits of replacing high-cost platinum with a lower cost, carbon-nitrogen-manganese-based catalyst.
![mirrorAsymmetry-NPDGamma_ORNL.jpg mirrorAsymmetry-NPDGamma_ORNL.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/mirrorAsymmetry-NPDGamma_ORNL.jpg?itok=POtcSu48)
A team of scientists has for the first time measured the elusive weak interaction between protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. They had chosen the simplest nucleus consisting of one neutron and one proton for the study.
![Leah Broussard leads a study of neutron decay to understand correlations between electrons and antineutrinos as well as subtle distortions in the electron energy spectrum.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/IMAGE%201_%202018-P08260_0.jpg?h=65b96206&itok=sitguWk-)
Leah Broussard, a physicist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has so much fun exploring the neutron that she alternates between calling it her “laboratory” and “playground” for understanding the universe. “The neutron is special,” she said of the sub...
![Physics_silicon-detectors.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/Physics_silicon-detectors.jpg?h=c920d705&itok=Q1fP5ZTi)
Physicists turned to the “doubly magic” tin isotope Sn-132, colliding it with a target at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to assess its properties as it lost a neutron to become Sn-131.