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ORNL's benchmark data set validates global nuclear reactor codes

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A re-analysis of nuclear fuel rods from a commercial reactor used improved radiochemical methods developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and characterized more than 50 different isotopes and 16 elements with high accuracy. It produced an experimental data set with uncertainties many times smaller than those obtained by the earlier radiochemical analysis. Modeling and simulation experts at ORNL applied the more accurate experimental data to validate codes widely used by the nuclear safeguards research community.

'Keiser rigs' stress materials to the max to improve products for power, propulsion

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

For decades, environmental exposure chambers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, including some called Keiser rigs, have subjected materials to corrosive gases, crushing pressures and calamitous heat. The extreme environments created in the Keiser rigs have spurred advances and continue to do so by providing insight into the conditions under which materials fail so researchers can apply the lessons learned to design better materials for power and propulsion applications.

Plasma processing technique takes SNS accelerator to new energy highs

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A novel technique known as in-situ plasma processing is helping scientists get more neutrons and better data for their experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source.

UT, ORNL scientists gain new insights into atomic disordering of complex metal oxides

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study led by the University of Tennessee and the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory could soon pay dividends in the development of materials with energy-related applications.

Journal: Nature Materials
Funder: The Department of Energy's Office of Science

Plasma processing technique takes SNS accelerator to new energy highs

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A novel technique known as in-situ plasma processing is helping scientists get more neutrons and better data for their experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Journal: Applied Surface Science
Funder: The Department of Energy's Office of Science

DOE-funded Bioenergy Research Centers file 500th invention disclosure

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Business Announcement

Three US Department of Energy-funded research centers are making progress on a shared mission to develop technologies that will bring advanced biofuels to the marketplace, reporting today the disclosure of their 500th invention.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

ORNL researchers stack the odds for novel optoelectronic 2-D materials

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Stacking layers of nanometer-thin semiconducting materials at different angles is a new approach to designing the next generation of energy-efficient transistors and solar cells. Recently a team led by researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory used the vibrations between two layers to decipher their stacking patterns. Their study provides a platform for engineering two-dimensional materials with optical and electronic properties that strongly depend on stacking configurations.

Journal: ACS Nano
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, March 2016

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

March 2016 story tips includes: 'Simulation results could lead to lower production costs for biofuels'; 'New app provides fuel economy information and more to buyers on the go'; 'ORNL supercomputer, SNS offer insight into disease'; and 'Advanced heat pump provides hot savings.'

Journal: Green Chemistry

Titan probes depths of biofuel's biggest barrier

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Cellulosic ethanol -- fuel derived from woody plants and waste biomass -- has the potential to become an affordable, renewable transportation fuel that rivals gasoline, but lignin, one of the most ubiquitous components of the plant cell wall, gets in the way. To better understand exactly how lignin persists, a team based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory created one of the largest biomolecular simulations to date -- a 23.7-million atom system representing pretreated biomass (cellulose and lignin) in the presence of enzymes.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, February 2016

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Batteries for grid, stationary uses get a boost with new technology; ORNL hosting neuromorphic computing workshop; ORNL part of team developing cleaner biomass cookstove; ORNL has key role in Critical Materials Institute work; Study of nanocrystal growth key to developing new materials; and US coastal populations face potential risks with climate change.