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Projects

As a scientific user facility, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) provides expertise, instrumentation, and resources to 250 projects each year. 

EMSL projects displayed on the EMSL web site project page reflect project abstracts and information migrated to this page before April 30, 2024. To review current and past EMSL user projects, visit EMSL Science Central.™ 

 

  • Projects beginning at or after given date.
    Projects ending at or before given date.

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…

Design of Cathode Materials for Li-ion Batteries with High Capacity

Lead Institution
University of Minnesota
Principal Investigator
Donald Truhlar
Project type
Exploratory Research
This project involves the understanding and design of new cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries by carrying out and analyzing electronic structure calculations employing density functional…

Colony plasticity of filamentous fungi

Lead Institution
Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute
Principal Investigator
Ronald de Vries
Project type
Exploratory Research
We will use the ascomycete industrial workhorse A. niger, which is one of the best studied fungal species with respect to plant biomass conversion. In nature, fungal colonies can cover substantial…

In situ Observation of Nanoscale Dynamic Interfacial Processes and Structural Transformations in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for Gas Storage and Sensing Technologies

Lead Institution
University of California, San Diego
Principal Investigator
Nathan Gianneschi
Project type
Exploratory Research
High-capacity gas storage and separation materials have tremendous potential for applications in alternative energy generation (hydrogen fuel cells) and in environmental and human health protection …

Controlling topotactic phase transitions in oxide thin films

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Yingge Du
Project type
Exploratory Research
The objective of this research is to understand, predict, and control the phase transitions occurring in structurally ordered thin films to enable the rational design, synthesis, and utilization of…

Water condensation in unsaturated mineral-organic assemblages

Lead Institution
Umea University
Principal Investigator
Jean-Francois Boily
Project type
Exploratory Research
This objective of this work is to predict condensation of atmospheric water vapor in the vadose zone of organic-bearing soils. It will primarily develop knowledge on the formation of condensed forms…

Infrared Nanoscopic Imaging of Structural and Globular Proteins

Lead Institution
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Principal Investigator
Joanna Atkin
Project type
Exploratory Research
This work uses infrared near-field optical spectroscopy to investigate the secondary structure of fiber-forming and globular proteins with nanoscale spatial resolution. These protein classes are…

Understanding enzymatic depolymerization of lignin

Lead Institution
Sandia National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Michael Kent
Project type
Exploratory Research
Producing fuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass is a promising technology to meet the nation's goal of a secure and sustainable energy future. Valorization of lignin is a key…