Solar cells based on cadmium and tellurium could move closer to theoretical levels of efficiency because of some sleuthing by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A team led by Jonathan Poplawsky of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences used advanced microscopy techniques to discover efficiency differences of crystalline structures of […]
Nontoxic Process Promises Larger Ultrathin Sheets Of 2-D Nanomaterials
A team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a novel way to produce two-dimensional nanosheets by separating bulk materials with nontoxic liquid nitrogen. The environmentally friendly process generates a 20-fold increase in surface area per sheet, which could expand the nanomaterials’ commercial applications. “It’s actually a very […]
Better Combustion for Power Generation
In the United States, the use of natural gas for electricity generation continues to grow. The driving forces behind this development? A boom in domestic natural gas production, historically low prices, and increased scrutiny over fossil fuels’ carbon emissions. Though coal still accounts for about a third of US electricity generation, utility companies are pivoting […]
Titan Probes Depths Of Biofuel’s Biggest Barrier
Energy-Efficient Reaction Drives ORNL Biofuel Conversion Technology
A new study from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory explains the mechanism behind a technology that converts bio-based ethanol into hydrocarbon blend-stocks for use as fossil fuel alternatives. Scientists have experimented for decades with a class of catalysts known as zeolites that transform alcohols such as ethanol into higher-grade hydrocarbons. As ORNL […]
Solvents Save Steps In Solar Cell Manufacturing
Advances in ultrathin films have made solar panels and semiconductor devices more efficient and less costly, and researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they’ve found a way to manufacture the films more easily, too. Typically the films–used by organic bulk heterojunction solar cells, or BHJs, to convert solar energy into […]
New Tool on Horizon for Surgeons Treating Cancer Patients
Surgeons could know while their patients are still on the operating table if a tissue is cancerous, according to researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. In the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, a team led by ORNL’s Vilmos Kertesz describes an automated droplet-based surface […]
ORNL Demonstrates First Large-Scale Graphene Fabrication
One of the barriers to using graphene at a commercial scale could be overcome using a method demonstrated by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Graphene, a material stronger and stiffer than carbon fiber, has enormous commercial potential but has been impractical to employ on a large scale, with researchers limited […]
ORNL Thermomagnetic Processing Method Provides Path to New Materials
For much the same reason LCD televisions offer eye-popping performance, a thermomagnetic processing method developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory can advance the performance of polymers. Polymers are used in cars, planes and hundreds of consumer products, and scientists have long been challenged to create polymers that are immune to shape-altering […]