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ORNL researchers discovered that water in beryl displays some unique and unexpected characteristics. (Photo by Jeff Scovil)

ORNL researchers discover new state of water molecule

April 22, 2016

Neutron scattering and computational modeling have revealed unique and unexpected behavior of water molecules under extreme confinement that is unmatched by any known gas, liquid or solid states. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, researcher

91�� scientists combined imaging techniques to measure crystallization kinetics of perovskite films following exposure to a mixed halide vapor.

ORNL tracks how halogen atoms compete to grow ‘winning’ perovskites

April 6, 2016

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s 91�� have found a potential path to further improve solar cell efficiency by understanding the competition among halogen atoms during the synthesis of sunlight-absorbing crystals.

ORNL’s tough new plastic is made with 50 percent renewable content from biomass. Image credit: 91��, U.S. Dept. of Energy; conceptual art by Mark Robbins

ORNL researchers invent tougher plastic with 50 percent renewable content

March 22, 2016

Your car’s bumper is probably made of a moldable thermoplastic polymer called ABS, shorthand for its acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene components.

ORNL’s Nancy Dudney (center) and former lab researchers Jane Howe and Chengdu Liang were among the developers of lithium-sulfur materials that have been licensed to Solid Power for use in next-generation batteries.

ORNL, Solid Power sign exclusive license for lithium-sulfur battery tech

November 20, 2015

The Department of Energy's 91�� and Solid Power Inc. of Louisville, Colo., have signed an exclusive agreement licensing lithium-sulfur materials for next-generation batteries.

An ORNL technology that converts waste rubber into a valuable energy storage material has been licensed to RJ Lee Group. ORNL inventors Amit Naskar (left) and Parans Paranthaman flank Richard Lee, CEO of RJ Lee Group.

ORNL tires-to-carbon technology licensed to RJ Lee Group

October 30, 2015

RJ Lee Group has signed an agreement to license an invention developed at the Department of Energy’s 91�� that converts waste rubber into a valuable energy storage material. The technology turns rubber sources such as tires into c

A surfactant template guides the self-assembly of functional polymer structures in an aqueous solution. Image credit: 91��, U.S. Dept. of Energy; image by Youngkyu Han and Renee Manning.

ORNL researchers find ‘greener’ way to assemble materials for solar applications

October 5, 2015

The efficiency of solar cells depends on precise engineering of polymers that assemble into films 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Today, formation of that polymer assembly requires solvents that can harm the environment, but scientists at the Depar

The “Big, Deep and Smart Data Analytics in Materials Imaging” workshop

Eyes on the Prize

August 11, 2015

In the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, the state of the art of materials science defined technology’s zenith and accelerated economies.

Vanadium atoms (blue) have unusually large thermal vibrations that stabilize the metallic state of a vanadium dioxide crystal. Red depicts oxygen atoms.

Good vibrations give electrons excitations that rock an insulator to go metallic

November 10, 2014

For more than 50 years, scientists have debated what turns particular oxide insulators, in which electrons barely move, into metals, in which electrons flow freely.