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Media Contacts
![Caption: Jaswinder Sharma makes battery coin cells with a lightweight current collector made of thin layers of aligned carbon fibers in a polymer with carbon nanotubes. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/sharma1_1.jpg?h=f7dae89e&itok=JiSsMewF)
Electric vehicles can drive longer distances if their lithium-ion batteries deliver more energy in a lighter package. A prime weight-loss candidate is the current collector, a component that often adds 10% to the weight of a battery cell without contributing energy.
![ORNL intern Jack Orebaugh holds the drone used in his research to help locate human remains. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/jack.jpg?h=0261ddcd&itok=yZ9N5dAh)
Jack Orebaugh, a forensic anthropology major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has a big heart for families with missing loved ones. When someone disappears in an area of dense vegetation, search and recovery efforts can be difficult, especially when a missing person’s last location is unknown. Recognizing the agony of not knowing what happened to a family or friend, Orebaugh decided to use his internship at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to find better ways to search for lost and deceased people using cameras and drones.
![2023 Top Science Achievements at SNS & HFIR](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/23-G08001-SNS-Top-Story-Image-pcg.jpg?h=1f0bc3a8&itok=3_ZyuAAO)
The 2023 top science achievements from HFIR and SNS feature a broad range of materials research published in high impact journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials.
![Alexey Serov researches ways to improve hydrogen fuel cells and materials and the electrolysis process. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P14038.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=JCWAG0sI)
It would be a challenge for any scientist to match Alexey Serov’s rate of inventions related to green hydrogen fuel. But this researcher at ORNL has 84 patents with at least 35 more under review, so his electrifying pace is unlikely to slow down any time soon.
![ORNL scientist Zhijia Du, white coat, former ORNL scientist Jianlin Li, blue coat, and Ateios CEO Rajan Kumar inspect battery components during a pilot production run. Credit: Kurt Weiss/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Kumar.2023-P12479.jpg?h=22d8bc0e&itok=SexbmLnB)
Ateios Systems licensed an ORNL technology for solvent-free battery component production using electron curing. Through Innovation Crossroads, Ateios continues to work with ORNL to enable readiness for production-quality battery components.
![Domenick Leto poses near assessment equipment for nuclear materials. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Picture2.jpg?h=3d9c8217&itok=tvYQSavn)
Drawing from his experience during the pandemic, Domenick Leto recognizes the need for the United States to have inexpensive, reliable capabilities to combat any type of disruption to national security, including nationwide medical emergencies. Leto and colleagues received a patent for a simple, inexpensive way to sterilize masks, plastic, and medical equipment from the COVID-19 virus.
![ORNL retiree Duane Starr and his wife, Nancy, pose with the critical frequencies demo unit Duane designed, built and donated to the laboratory to support nuclear workshops. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P06566.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=tIETe2jc)
For years, Duane Starr led workshops at ORNL to help others from across the U.S. government understand uranium processing technologies. After his retirement, Starr donated a 5-foot-tall working model, built in his garage, that demonstrates vibration harmonics, consistent with operation of a super critical gas centrifuge rotor, a valuable resource to ongoing ORNL-led workshops.
![From left, Cable-Dunlap, Chi, Smith and Thornton have been named ORNL Corporate Fellows. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/corpfellow_nov23_2.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=G_PduE-d)
Four researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named ORNL Corporate Fellows in recognition of significant career accomplishments and continued leadership in their scientific fields.
![ORNL researchers are establishing a digital thread of data, algorithms and workflows to produce a continuously updated model of earth systems.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/MicrosoftTeams-image%20%2823%29_0.png?h=c6980913&itok=cK99Pg3y)
Digital twins are exactly what they sound like: virtual models of physical reality that continuously update to reflect changes in the real world.
![ORNL researchers Lu Yu and Yaocai Bai examine vials that contain a chemical solution that causes the cobalt and lithium to separate from a spent battery, followed by a second stage when cobalt precipitates in the bottom. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/2023-P12386_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=CVJOHRVM)
Used lithium-ion batteries from cell phones, laptops and a growing number of electric vehicles are piling up, but options for recycling them remain limited mostly to burning or chemically dissolving shredded batteries.