All articles tagged with #ornl
Scientists at ORNL have successfully characterized a Promethium complex in solution for the first time, allowing direct measurement of its properties. This breakthrough fills a significant knowledge gap in lanthanide chemistry and has vast technological implications, potentially improving lanthanide extraction and refining methods, making these rare earth elements more accessible for high-tech applications.
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered crucial properties of the rare, radioactive element promethium, nearly 80 years after its discovery. By isolating a pure sample and using advanced techniques, they analyzed promethium's bonding properties, comparing it with other lanthanides. This breakthrough could lead to improved separation technologies and new applications for rare earth elements.
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have published a groundbreaking study on the rare radioactive element promethium, potentially rewriting chemistry textbooks. The research, which revealed key characteristics such as bond lengths, could expand the element's applications in nuclear batteries and space exploration. ORNL, the sole U.S. producer of promethium-147, utilized its High Flux Isotope Reactor and advanced facilities to achieve these findings, which also offer new insights into lanthanide contraction and separation processes.
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a groundbreaking approach using spiral-tip motion and image reconstruction techniques to understand the behavior of electric charge at the microscopic level, potentially leading to improvements in batteries, solar cells, and electronic devices. Their method allows visualization of charge motion at the nanometer level and at speeds thousands of times faster than conventional methods, providing a rapid and thorough view of processes previously unattainable. This approach expands the toolkit available to users at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL, enabling exploration across various devices and materials.
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a coating made of carbon nanotubes that reduces friction in load-bearing systems with moving parts, such as vehicle drive trains and turbines, by at least a hundredfold. The coating reduces the friction of steel rubbing on steel to nearly zero, which could help reduce energy consumption and elongate the lifespan of systems. The ORNL coating could help reduce the US economy's annual loss of over $1 trillion to friction and wear, equivalent to 5% of the gross national product.
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have replicated a nuclear reaction that occurs on the surface of a neutron star, using a unique gas jet target system. The experiment improves understanding of nuclear reactions that lead to the creation of diverse nuclear isotopes, refining theoretical models used to predict element formation. The team used high-resolution detectors to measure energies and angles of the proton reaction products, and back-calculated to discover the dynamics of the reaction. The achievement may help reveal the cosmic recipes of elements in everything from people to planets.
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an affordable add-on technology that removes more than 99.9% of acidic gases and other emissions to produce an ultraclean natural gas furnace. This acidic gas reduction, or AGR, technology can also be added to other natural gas-driven equipment such as water heaters, commercial boilers, and industrial furnaces. The AGR technology would allow furnace manufacturers to use materials that are more affordable than the stainless steels used in most heat exchangers, which could increase affordability and allow furnace manufacturers to sell more high-efficiency furnaces that meet California’s proposed new standards for residential and commercial furnace emissions.