As he prepares to enter PNNL's Energy Sciences Center later this year, Vijayakumar 'Vijay' Murugesan is among DOE leaders exploring solutions to design and build transformative materials for batteries of the future.
Scientists have created a single-crystal, nickel-rich cathode that is hardier and more efficient than before—important progress on the road to better lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
PNNL scientists have developed a catalyst that converts ethanol into C5+ ketones that can serve as the building blocks for everything from solvents to jet fuel.
Yong Wang, associate director of PNNL’s Institute for Integrated Catalysis, has been recognized with 2021 American Chemical Society’s E.V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.
Researchers at PNNL have come up with a novel way to use silicon as an energy storage ingredient, replacing the graphite in electrodes. Silicon can hold 10 times the electrical charge per gram, but it comes with problems of its own.
Scientists have uncovered a root cause of the growth of needle-like structures—known as dendrites and whiskers—that plague lithium batteries, sometimes causing a short circuit, failure, or even a fire.
PNNL researchers have created a chemical cocktail that could help electric cars power their way through extreme temperatures where current lithium-ion batteries don’t operate as efficiently as needed.
PNNL researchers demonstrate how the excitation of oxygen atoms that contributes to better performance of a lithium-ion battery also triggers a process that leads to damage, explaining a phenomenon that has been a mystery to scientists.
As Tri-Citians, we're fortunate that we don't have the frustrating traffic and long commutes that our friends in Seattle and Portland endure. And with lower prices at the pump, we don't think much about fuel efficiency.