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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.

Titan targets tumors

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the German research laboratory Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf are using Titan to understand and control new methods for particle acceleration that could have big impacts on laser-driven tumor removal.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
Meeting: 2015 GPU Technology Conference

Cracking cases

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A group of nuclear detectives at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory takes on tough challenges, from detecting illicit uranium using isotopic 'fingerprints' to investigating Presidential assassination conspiracies. 'A very big capability at Oak Ridge exists for nuclear analytics, all the way from helping commercial production of nuclear power to making sure the world's nuclear materials are properly accounted for,' said ORNL's Joseph Giaquinto, leader of the Nuclear Analytical Chemistry and Isotopics Laboratories.

ORNL supports new projects to develop advanced nuclear technologies

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Grant and Award Announcement

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory will support two new DOE-funded projects to explore, develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear reactor technologies.

Funder: Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy

ORNL researchers use neutrons to gain insight into battery inefficiency

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving the lifetimes of rechargeable batteries that run on lithium, a small atom that can pack tightly into graphite anode materials. The valuable ions are depleted as a battery charges, and they are also lost to the formation of a thin coating on a battery's anode during initial charging. ORNL researchers used two powerful neutron science facilities to try to understand the dynamics behind this phenomenon.

ORNL's thermal cameras snoop beneath surfaces to reveal materials' secrets

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

In 1995, the Department of Energy's Continuous Fiber Ceramic Composite program, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, bought a high-speed infrared camera -- one of the first available for purchase outside the military. Since then, ORNL has acquired at least 10 additional IR cameras for use in a spectrum of projects. The cameras have mapped changing temperatures as heat flows through objects from gears to artwork.