# Oak Ridge National Lab

Precursors — Acetylated pure lignin melt spinning.

Source: https://en.bioecon.ru/companies/oak-ridge-national-lab/
Updated: 2026-07-02

- Country: United States

## Verifiable facts

| Fact | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Affiliation | Oak Ridge National Laboratory (managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy) | https://www.ornl.gov/file/carbon-fiber-technology-facility-fact-sheet/display |
| Research focus | Developing low-cost carbon fiber, including research on lignin-based precursors and advanced manufacturing/conversion technologies (melt-spinning, microwave, plasma) | https://www.ornl.gov/content/research-areas, https://www.ornl.gov/facility/cftf/research-areas/low-cost-carbon-fiber, https://www.ornl.gov/file/carbon-fiber-technology-facility-fact-sheet/display, https://www.ornl.gov/group/advanced-fiber-manufacturing |
| Facility | Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF) | https://www.ornl.gov/facility/cftf/research-areas/low-cost-carbon-fiber, https://www.ornl.gov/file/carbon-fiber-technology-facility-fact-sheet/display |
| Facility | Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) | https://www.ornl.gov/file/carbon-fiber-technology-facility-fact-sheet/display, https://www.ornl.gov/group/advanced-fiber-manufacturing |
| Grant | $10M awarded to develop coal-derived carbon products (2020) | https://www.energy.gov/hgeo/articles/oak-ridge-national-laboratory-university-kentucky-and-penn-state-university-receive |
| Grant | DOE Award Number DE-EE-0005779 for lignin-based carbon fiber technology development | https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1224680 |
| Principal staff | Merlin Theodore (Group Leader, Advanced Fibers Manufacturing) [medium confidence] | https://www.ornl.gov/file/carbon-fiber-technology-facility-fact-sheet/display |
| Principal staff | Amit Naskar, Nidia Gallego, Kokouvi Akato [medium confidence] | https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1224680 |

Independent sources: energy.gov, ornl.gov, osti.gov

## Technologies

- [Lignin carbon fibers](https://en.bioecon.ru/technology/lignin-carbon-fibers/)