News

April 8, 2026

6 MIN READ

Molten salt chemistry converts consumer polymer into fuel

Researchers at ORNL developed a method to convert a commonly discarded hydrocarbon polymer into gasoline- and diesel-like fuels. The team has applied for a patent for the discovery, which treats polyethylene — the stuff of white cutting boards and shopping bags — with aluminum chloride-containing molten salts that serve as both solvent and catalyst. If scaled beyond the laboratory, the process could strengthen U.S. energy security and industrial competitiveness.

May 15, 2025

1 MIN READ

Tailored Molten Salts Achieve Highly Efficient Deconstruction of Polyethylene to Liquid Alkanes

Scientific Achievement: AlCl3-containing molten salts were found to ensure high catalytic efficiency in the conversion of polyethylene plastics to fuels through the stabilization of carbenium intermediates.Significance and Impact: Research results provide a new pathway for the efficient conversion of plastic waste to fuels, potentially impacting the energy supply chain.DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c01107

November 26, 2024

7 MIN READ

Improved catalyst turns harmful greenhouse gases into cleaner fuels, chemical feedstocks

A chemical reaction can convert two polluting greenhouse gases into valuable building blocks for cleaner fuels and feedstocks, but the high temperature required for the reaction also deactivates the catalyst. A team led by ORNL has found a way to thwart deactivation. The strategy may apply broadly to other catalysts.

November 4, 2024

5 MIN READ

Two ORNL staff receive 2024 Great Minds in STEM Luminary award

Verónica Melesse Vergara and Felipe Polo-Garzon, two staff members at ORNL have been honored with Luminary Awards from Great Minds in STEM, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting STEM careers in underserved communities.

May 16, 2024

7 MIN READ

Ion swap dramatically improves performance of CO2-defeating catalyst

A team of scientists led by ORNL found an unconventional way to improve catalysts made of more than one material. The solution demonstrates a path to designing catalysts with greater activity, selectivity and stability.

August 17, 2022

2 MIN READ

Measuring and Directing Charge Transfer in Heterogenous Catalysts

Precise control of charge transfer between catalyst nanoparticles and supports presents a unique opportunity to enhance the stability, activity, and selectivity of heterogeneous catalysts.

July 6, 2021

1 MIN READ

Photo-Induced Strong Metal-Support Interaction (SMSI) for Enhanced Catalysis

Researchers have discovered a new mode of SMSI construction under ambient conditions that is driven by photochemistry instead of the traditional thermal activation.

March 1, 2020

1 MIN READ

In Situ Vibrational Spectroscopy Provides First Direct Evidence for the Roles of Hydrogen Species in Selective Hydrogenation over Ceria

In situ inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and IR spectroscopy provide the first direct evidence for the catalytic roles of cerium hydride (Ce-H) and hydroxyl group (OH) groups in acetylene hydrogenation over ceria as a function of the density of oxygen vacancies.

March 1, 2020

1 MIN READ

Surface Facets Control Catalysis over Perovskite Catalysts via Ruling the Degree of Surface Reconstruction

July 30, 2019

5 MIN READ

Neutrons shed light on industrial catalyst for hydrogen production

Collaborators at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and U.S. universities used neutron scattering and other advanced characterization techniques to study how a prominent catalyst enables the “water-gas shift” reaction to purify and generate hydrogen at industrial scale.

October 18, 2017

5 MIN READ

Researchers customize catalysts to boost product yields, decrease chemical separation costs

For some crystalline catalysts, what you see on the surface is not always what you get in the bulk, according to two studies led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The investigators discovered that treating a complex