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Innovation Crossroads cohort 7

Seven entrepreneurs will embark on a two-year fellowship as the seventh cohort of Innovation Crossroads kicks off this month at ORNL. Representing a range of transformative energy technologies, Cohort 7 is a diverse class of innovators with promising new companies.

ORNL researchers found that a battery anode film, made by Navitas Systems using a dry process, was strong and flexible. These characteristics make a lithium-ion battery safer and more durable. Credit: Navitas Systems

Early experiments at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have revealed significant benefits to a dry battery manufacturing process. This eliminates the use of solvents and is more affordable, while showing promise for delivering a battery that is durable, less weighed down by inactive elements, and able to maintain a high capacity after use. 

A new method to control quantum states in a material is shown. The electric field induces polarization switching of the ferroelectric substrate, resulting in different magnetic and topological states. Credit: Mina Yoon, Fernando Reboredo, Jacquelyn DeMink/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

An advance in a topological insulator material — whose interior behaves like an electrical insulator but whose surface behaves like a conductor — could revolutionize the fields of next-generation electronics and quantum computing, according to scientists at ORNL.

ORNL researchers have developed a new pressing method, shown as blue circle on right, that produces a more uniform solid electrolyte than the traditionally processed material with more voids, shown as gray circle on left. The material can be integrated into a battery system, center, for improved stability and rate performance. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL scientists found that a small tweak created big performance improvements in a type of solid-state battery, a technology considered vital to broader electric vehicle adoption.

Mali Balasubramanian made a rewarding mid-career shift to focus on studying new battery materials and systems using X-ray spectroscopy and other methods. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Having passed the midpoint of his career, physicist Mali Balasubramanian was part of a tight-knit team at a premier research facility for X-ray spectroscopy. But then another position opened, at ORNL— one that would take him in a new direction.

Rigoberto Advincula

Rigoberto Advincula, a renowned scientist at ORNL and professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Tennessee, has won the Netzsch North American Thermal Analysis Society Fellows Award for 2023.

Researchers Melissa Cregger, left, and Xiaohan Yang examine plants in an ORNL greenhouse where biosensors are installed to accelerate plant transformations. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Nature-based solutions are an effective tool to combat climate change triggered by rising carbon emissions, whether it’s by clearing the skies with bio-based aviation fuels or boosting natural carbon sinks.

Tomonori Saito, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Inventor of the Year, was honored at Battelle’s Celebration of Solvers. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Tomonori Saito, a distinguished innovator in the field of polymer science and senior R&D staff member at ORNL, was honored on May 11 in Columbus, Ohio, at Battelle’s Celebration of Solvers.

Yue Yuan, Weinberg Distinguished Staff Fellow at ORNL, is researching ways to create new materials to help the environment. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Growing up in China, Yue Yuan stood beneath the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, built to harness the world’s third-longest river. Her father brought her to Three Gorges Dam every year as it was being constructed across the Yangtze River so she could witness its progress.

Marm Dixit, a Weinberg Distinguished Staff Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was honored for his work on imaging techniques for solid state batteries. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Marm Dixit, a Weinberg Distinguished Staff Fellow at ORNL has received the 2023 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award.