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Stellar idea

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

This profile of an early career physicist highlights her research in developing new gas jet targets for use in next-generation nuclear physics experiments.

Advances in extracting uranium from seawater announced in special issue

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

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. Major advances in this area have been published by the American Chemical Society's journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory led more than half of the 30 papers in the special issue.

Journal: Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Funder: DOE/Office of Nuclear Energy

Chemistry consortium uses Titan supercomputer to understand actinides

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Business Announcement

A multi-institution team led by the University of Alabama's David Dixon is using Titan to understand actinide chemistry at the molecular level in hopes of designing methods to clean up contamination and safely store spent nuclear fuel.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

ORNL forges connections for sturgeon conservation

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are taking a closer look at how sturgeon, a prehistoric -- and now imperiled -- group of fish species may better be helped to get around the dams that block their migrations.

'Odd couple' monolayer semiconductors align to advance optoelectronics

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists synthesized a stack of atomically thin monolayers of two lattice-mismatched semiconductors. Where the two semiconductor layers met, they formed an atomically sharp heterostructure, which generated a photovoltaic response by separating electron-hole pairs that were generated by light. The achievement of creating this atomically thin solar cell shows the promise of synthesizing mismatched layers to enable new families of functional two-dimensional materials.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ORNL hosts Southeast bioenergy meeting, study tour

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Business Announcement

Researchers and others interested in establishing a sustainable bioeconomy in the US are taking part in a five-day study tour led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL neutron 'splashes' reveal signature of exotic particles

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers used neutrons to uncover novel behavior in materials that holds promise for quantum computing. The findings provide evidence for long-sought phenomena in a two-dimensional magnet.

Journal: Nature Materials

ORNL tracks how halogen atoms compete to grow 'winning' perovskites

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers 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.

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society

Chalice receptors attract metal contaminants with new chemical selectivity

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory found new ways to influence selectivity for specific positively charged ions (cations) with the addition of simple receptors, not for cations but rather for negatively charged ions (anions). This discovery proves that adding an anion receptor can affect the selectivity of extractants used to separate metals. Better selectivity via the addition of anion receptors to enhance discrimination between metals, such as sodium and cesium, could improve future environmental cleanup efforts.

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

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This tip sheet includes: ORNL researchers focus on minimizing impact of natural and man-made disasters hit; Aberrated probes helping to detect magnetic properties in materials; Thermoelectric heat pump dryer potentially uses 40 percent less energy; ORNL researchers discover structures designed to monitor fish movement are potential obstacles.