Projects

How do temperature and soil organic matter inputs mediate the organic molecular composition of soils?

Lead Institution

University of Oregon

Principal Investigator

Scott Bridgham

Project type

Exploratory Research

The potential release of stored soil carbon under a warming climate will be at least partially dependent on the temperature response of soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization. However, it has…

Detection and quantification of strigolactones in Populus

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jin-Gui Chen

Project type

Exploratory Research

Plant architecture plays a major role in determining photosynthetic light use efficiency and biomass yield. Shoot branching is one of the key determinants of plant architecture. The identification of…

Proteome Response to Arogenate Dehydratase Changes in Arabidopsis and Poplar

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Norman Lewis

Project type

Exploratory Research

Arogenate dehydratases (ADTs) are a class of isoenzymes involved in the production of phenylalanine (Phe). In addition to its involvement in protein biosynthesis, Phe is the starting metabolite in…

Surface-mounted bi-metallic sub-nano clusters as catalysts for endothermic cooling

Lead Institution

University of California, Los Angeles

Principal Investigator

Anastassia Alexandrova

Project type

Exploratory Research

The ultimate objective of the proposed research is understanding and design of novel catalytic surfaces based on sub-nano surface-deposited clusters, with a particular application to hydrogenation/de…

In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Energy Storage Materials

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Karl Mueller

Project type

Exploratory Research

Innovation of energy storage technology depends critically on the fundamental understanding of the operating mechanism and dynamic interaction across different components in the storage unit. With…

Electrical and Photoelectrochemical Characterization of Single Crystal Bismuth Vanadate

Lead Institution

University of Texas at Austin

Principal Investigator

C. Buddie Mullins

Project type

Exploratory Research

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is a promising electrode material in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Recently, it has been shown that doping with Mo and W dramatically improves its performance, but the…

Characterization of partially soluble copper oxide nanoparticles for evaluating the role of deposited dose rate in respiratory tract target cell responses

Lead Institution

University of Rochester

Principal Investigator

Alison Elder

Project type

Exploratory Research

The increasing use of nanoparticles (NPs < 100 nm in at least one dimension) in industrial settings has led to a greater concern about the potential for human exposures. Although there are several…

Interface-Specific Radiation Induced Segregation in Nanocrystalline Alloys

Lead Institution

Drexel University

Principal Investigator

Mitra Taheri

Project type

Exploratory Research

The aim of the proposed project is to provide a fundamental understanding of how metallic nanocrystalline alloys can be utilized as radiation tolerant materials in future nuclear reactors. This aim…

Quantifying selective toxicity of nanoparticles in zebrafish xenograft through advanced microscopy

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Robert Tanguay

Project type

Exploratory Research

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) possess a 28-35 fold preferential cytotoxicity toward cancerous T cells in culture. We hypothesize that this cell dependent selective cytotoxicity extends to other…

Natural Organic Matter Composition and its Influence on Microbial Dynamics and Biogeochemical Processes at the Catchment Scale

Lead Institution

University of New Hampshire

Principal Investigator

Paula Mouser

Project type

Exploratory Research

Natural organic material (NOM) present in surface and subsurface environments is able to drive biogeochemical cycles, with implications for carbon flux, nutrient flow, and contaminant metal…

Engineered nano-scale interfaces in scandia stabilized zirconia and samaria doped ceria multi-layer hetero-structures

Lead Institution

Western Michigan University

Principal Investigator

Asghar Kayani

Project type

Exploratory Research

Recent studies showed a colossal enhancement in the oxygen ionic conductivity of multi-layer oxide thin films compared to most commonly used solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrolytes. It has been…

The Mechanism of the Hammerhead Ribozyme RNA Cleavage Reaction: Determining Optimized Free Energy Reaction Paths from QM/MM Simulations

Lead Institution

University of California, San Diego

Principal Investigator

John Weare

Project type

Exploratory Research

Ribonucleic acids (RNA) play a central role in the transmission of genetic information. However, the identification of additional non-coding roles of RNA polymers continues to grow. An important…

Interfacial and Multiphase Characterization of Next Generation Inorganic Resists Synthesized Through Sustainable Materials Chemistries

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Liney Arnadottir

Project type

Exploratory Research

Transformation of small molecular precursors into inorganic solid-state compounds via solution methods has mainly focused on sol-gel techniques involving hydrolysis and condensation reactions of…

First-principles modeling of charge transfer in fullerene organic photovoltaics

Lead Institution

University of California, Los Angeles

Principal Investigator

Daniel Neuhauser

Project type

Exploratory Research

Organic photovoltaics have emerged as an inexpensive alternative to more traditional solar energy. Organic solar cells have long utilized fullerene derivatives as electron acceptors in devices,…

Functional Components of Plant Resistance to Fungi

Lead Institution

Rice University

Principal Investigator

Janet Braam

Project type

Exploratory Research

Recent research has led to new insights into the importance of spatial aspects of jasmonate-mediated plant defense and fungal resistance, including organ-specific resistance as a gate-keeper for…

Impact of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid upon biofilm development, Fe speciation, and the fate of microbial biomass in the rhizosphere of dryland and irrigated wheat

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Matthew Marshall

Project type

Exploratory Research

Rhizobacterial biofilms are a major sink for plant-derived carbon, and a major source for microbially-derived soil organic matter (SOM). Bacteria residing within biofilm matrices, which restrict…

Coking- and sintering-resistant surface-mounted sub-nano cluster catalysts of endothermic cooling

Lead Institution

University of California, Los Angeles

Principal Investigator

Anastassia Alexandrova

Project type

Exploratory Research

The ultimate objective of the proposed research is understanding and design of novel catalytic surfaces based on sub-nano surface-deposited clusters, with a particular application to dehydrogenation…

Impact of natural organic matter on U speciation and mobility in groundwater

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Bargar

Project type

Exploratory Research

Uranium (U) contamination of aquifers is a persistent problem at DOE legacy ore processing sites and, contrary to initial predictions, many plumes are not attenuating with natural groundwater…

X-ray tomography to incorporate redox conditions into soil carbon turnover models

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Markus Kleber

Project type

Exploratory Research

We suggest that X-ray tomography can be successfully employed to generate numerical values of a) total pore space, b) pore geometry, c) pore size distribution and d) pore connectivity at relevant…

Characterization of chemisorption products from CO2 and amine bearing polymers via solid-state NMR

Lead Institution

Washington University in St. Louis

Principal Investigator

Sophia Hayes

Project type

Exploratory Research

The objective of this proposed work is to characterize the chemisorption products of CO2 interacting with solid-supported amine materials. The aim is to use these materials to capture CO2 from flue…