Characterization of Catalysis at ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory offers state-of-the art strcutural characteization tools and performance measurement facilities at ORNL. There are dedicated centers for structural characterization:

The High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) is a Department of Energy (DOE) national user facility dedicated to solving materials problems that limit the efficiency and reliability of systems for power generation and for energy conversation, storage, distribution and use. Sponsored by the Vehicle Technologies Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the HTML is located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in a 37,511-ft2 building containing six user centers – clusters of specialized equipment available to researchers from industry, universities, and federal laboratories. The HTML also manages a neutron beamline facility at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL and a beamline at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). Instruments available at the six HTML user centers provide extensive capabilities for characterizing the microstructure, chemistry and physical and mechanical properties of catalytic materials over a wide range of temperatures and environments.

The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a collaborative nanoscience user research facility for the synthesis, characterization, theory/ modeling/ simulation, and design of nanoscale materials. It is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers currently being established by the Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy.

The National Transportation Research Center offers one of the most diverse concentrations of transportation researchers in the United States. Researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Tennessee’s Center for Transportation Research come together under one roof, bringing complementary skill sets that allow the NTRC to address transportation issues and concerns from a systems perspective. Work at FEERC is centered on three interrelated areas of research: fuels, engines and emissions. Combining novel diagnostic and experimental methods with modeling, the Center’s scientists develop improved understanding of the functions and key mechanisms of emission control devices such as lean NOx traps, urea SCR, and diesel particulate filters, with emphasis on improving total system efficiency.

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is an accelerator-based neutron source in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. When at full power, this one-of-a-kind facility will provide the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific research and industrial development. SNS was built by a partnership of six U.S Department of Energy laboratories. Along with its sister facility, the High Flux Isotope Reactor, SNS makes Oak Ridge a mecca for neutron-scattering research.