Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using state-of-the-art methods to shed light on chemical separations needed to recover rare-earth elements and secure critical materials for clean energy technologies.

New polymer materials under development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could enable safer, more stable batteries needed for electric vehicles and grid energy storage.

Polymers are promising electrolytes for solid-state lithium batteries for their low cost, flexibility and processability, but performance needs to be improved.

“Typically, you can increase flexibility to enhance conductivity, but you sacrifice strength. Our approach bypasses this trade-off by adding flexibility selectively in ion-conducting blocks,” said ORNL’s Guang Yang.

A study led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers promises to help sharpen accuracy for climate-change models and enable more reliable predictions of extreme weather.

A new capability to identify urban neighborhoods, down to the block and building level, that are most vulnerable to climate change could help ensure that mitigation and resilience programs reach the people who need them the most.