Chemical Sciences Division News

News

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed a fiber to adsorb uranium from seawater.

Advances in extracting uranium from seawater announced in special issue

April 21, 2016

The oceans hold more than four billion tons of uranium—enough to meet global energy needs for the next 10,000 years if only we could capture the element from seawater to fuel nuclear power plants.

This rendering illustrates the excitation of a spin liquid on a honeycomb lattice using neutrons.

ORNL neutron ‘splashes’ reveal signature of exotic particles

April 7, 2016

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutrons to uncover novel behavior in materials that holds promise for quantum computing.

In unbound calyx[4]pyrrole, two pyrrole “petals” are flipped up and two, down.

Chalice receptors attract metal contaminants with new chemical selectivity

April 5, 2016

Atomic charges in chemical solutions are like Switzerland—they strive for neutrality. The tendency to balance charges drives dynamics when charged atoms or molecules, called ions, are present in solutions.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers made a molecule that could selectively bind to metals in the middle of the lanthanide series.

ORNL scientists show charged salts can extract specific central lanthanide elements

March 28, 2016

Rare earth elements are metals used in technologies from wind turbines and magnetic resonance imaging agents to industrial catalysts and high-definition televisions.

ORNL’s tough new plastic is made with 50 percent renewable content from biomass. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 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.

New ORNL method could unleash solar power potential

March 15, 2016

Measurement and data analysis techniques developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could provide new insight into performance-robbing flaws in crystalline structures, ultimately improving the performance of solar cells.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers re-evaluated used nuclear fuel rods from a commercial reactor and reduced data uncertainties by an order of magnitude compared with previous measurements taken at a different lab.

ORNL’s benchmark data set validates global nuclear reactor codes

March 9, 2016

Nearly 100 commercial nuclear reactors supply one-fifth of America’s energy.

ORNL’s new battery design holds significant promise for grid and stationary power storage.

Batteries – Hybrid packs power

February 4, 2016

Batteries for grid and stationary applications could get a boost with an approach that uses inexpensive and plentiful aluminum and lithium-containing cathodes to increase capacity, cycling performance and safety.

ORNL researchers are developing an idealized collector molecule that has a shape complementary to the surface atomic structure of xenotime, a rare earth yttrium-rich phosphate mineral.

Energy – Critical materials, critical role

February 4, 2016

Ensuring a reliable supply of rare earth elements, including four key lanthanides and yttrium, is a major goal of the Critical Materials Institute () as these elements are essential to many cl

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Joe Giaquinto investigates chemical clues for trace-level radioactivity. Giaquinto leads ORNL’s Nuclear Analytical Chemistry and Isotopics Laboratory, which makes critical contributions to nuclear forensics and nonprolifera

Cracking Cases

January 25, 2016

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.

�鶹Ӱ��