Click here for static version. What if one answer to the supply crisis isn’t buried in a mine shaft, but growing quietly in a field? For too long, the United States has relied on foreign sources for most of the raw materials powering its technological future, the essential minerals in every smartphone, battery pack and
ORNL researchers have developed a hybrid manufacturing method that combines 3D printing and electroforming to create leak-free HIP cans for advanced nuclear reactor components. The approach could simplify production of complex metal parts, reduce costs and reliance on overseas manufacturing, and strengthen U.S. supply chains for nuclear energy and defense applications.
ORNL and KVA Stainless completed a DOE-funded study validating the performance of welded Grade 91 steel for use in high-temperature energy systems. The results will help KVA refine its advanced welding technology and support the development of durable materials for future fission and fusion reactors.
M. Parans Paranthaman was named R&D World’s 2026 Researcher of the Year for turning materials science discoveries into impactful technologies.
Researchers at ORNL and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, demonstrated an AI-driven workflow that guided data collection in real time during a beamline experiment at Cornell University's CHESS facility. The approach allowed the AI to adjust measurements as data was collected, advancing autonomous scientific research and supporting DOE's Genesis Mission.
Six entrepreneurs have been selected for the next cohort of Innovation Crossroads, a Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The program provides energy-related startup founders from across the nation with access to ORNL’s researchers, facilities and technical expertise, as well as connect them with experts, mentors and networks to accelerate their efforts to take their promising ideas to the marketplace.
Megan O’Connor, CEO of Nth Cycle, used Innovation Crossroads at ORNL to help springboard technology scale-up.
Ahmed Arabi Hassen of ORNL has been named a Fellow of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, recognizing his leadership and contributions to nondestructive evaluation and composite manufacturing. His work has advanced innovative manufacturing technologies while helping accelerate the adoption of advanced materials across industry.
ORNL received five of nine awards from the U.S. Department of Energy's Transportation Technologies Office at the 2026 Annual Merit Review for innovations in transportation efficiency, vehicle technologies, and advanced manufacturing. The honors included two individual Distinguished Achievement Awards and three team awards recognizing advances in commercial vehicle modeling, fuel economy resources, rare-earth-free electric motors, advanced truck materials, and computational welding technologies.
Researchers from ORNL and international collaborators discovered a simpler, lower-pressure method to produce R8 silicon, a rare form of silicon with promising applications in energy storage and electronics. By compressing amorphous (glassy) silicon instead of crystalline silicon, the team created R8 more efficiently, with neutron scattering, X-ray diffraction, and computer modeling confirming the process and suggesting it could also work for other materials like germanium.
ORNL and ACP Technologies have partnered for more than seven years to advance pitch-based materials for carbon fiber and synthetic graphite production, helping move the technology from laboratory research to pilot-scale manufacturing. Through work at ORNL and the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, ACP refined its mesophase pitch materials and established a new pilot production facility in Kentucky, with a commercial-scale plant planned for 2029. The collaboration supports domestic supply chains for energy storage, transportation, aerospace, and defense applications.
ORNL was recently awarded six Federal Laboratory Consortium awards, including the 2026 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award, for technology commercialized by Element3 that enables the extraction of lithium from oil and gas wastewater.