Projects

Variable temperature XRD studies of Ge/SiO2/Si system

Lead Institution

Motorola

Principal Investigator

Yong Liang

Project type

Exploratory Research

This user proposal focuses on using the variable temperature X-ray diffraction capability in EMSL to investigate temperature dependent lattice parameters of a semiconductor system. Specifically, we…

Observations of Scytonema-colonized and
non-colonized fiber cement roofing shingles.

Lead Institution

Lab/Cor, Inc.

Principal Investigator

Barbara Reine

Project type

Exploratory Research

Fiber cement roofing shingles colonized with Scytonema sp. and other cyanobacteria are failing. One mechanism proposed to explain the observed deterioration is the breakdown of the cementicious…

Single particle analysis of smoke aerosols during the Summer 2002 Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Jenny Hand

Project type

Exploratory Research

The role of smoke aerosols from biomass burning in visibility degradation is poorly understood because few studies exist that have fully characterized their physical, optical, chemical and…

Molecular characterization of dissolved organic matter components facilitating the transport and transformation of mercury

Lead Institution

Syracuse University

Principal Investigator

Charles Driscoll

Project type

Exploratory Research

Browning of surface water has been observed across the northeastern United States and northern Europe. This trend has generally been attributed to increases in dissolved organic matter following the…

Dissecting bacterial heterogeneity using fluorescence and imaging mass spectrometry

Lead Institution

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Principal Investigator

Elizabeth Shank

Project type

Exploratory Research

In nature, most microbes exist as members of complex multispecies communities that play vital roles promoting plant and soil health. Many of these microbial communities exist as biofilms: structured…

Investigation of morphological and mixing state properties of aerosol and ice crystal residual particles from the Atlantic sector of the Arctic

Lead Institution

West Texas A&M University

Principal Investigator

Seong-gi Moon

Project type

Exploratory Research

Our current knowledge of aerosol-cloud interactions in the Arctic is inadequate for accurate modeling of northern high-latitude regions. To fill this gap, the field campaign was recently conducted in…

Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulence at the Sediment-Water Interface

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Sourabh Apte

Project type

Exploratory Research

Understanding the fundamental connections between surface and groundwater is a critical component of the current PNNL Subsurface Science Scientific Focus Area (SFA). The sediment-water interface in…

Evaluating the role of carbon radicals on Photocatalytic Nitrogen Fixation on Titania

Lead Institution

Georgia Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Marta Hatzell

Project type

Exploratory Research

Photocatalytic fixation of nitrogen by titania catalysts at ambient conditions has been reported for decades, yet the active site capable of adsorbing an inert N2 molecule at ambient pressure and the…

Theoretical study of photoreduction of CO2 on TiO2 surface

Lead Institution

University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Principal Investigator

Jin Zhao

Project type

Exploratory Research

The efficient photoreduction of carbon dioxide to a fuel is a major hurdle in the neutral energy cycle of CO2, and TiO2 is one of the most intensively studied photocatalytic materials for CO2…

Integration of Omics into a New Comprehensive Rate Law for Competitive Terminal Electron-Accepting Processes in Reactive Transport Models: Application to N, Fe, S, and Contaminant Transformations in Stream and Wetland Sediments

Lead Institution

Georgia Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Frank Stewart

Project type

Exploratory Research

We recently received notification that our DOE-BER proposal (ID: 0000231737, Program Manager: Paul Bayer) was funded to define a new comprehensive rate law for metabolic processes in freshwater…

Understanding the long-term fate of nitrate in terrestrial ecosystems: Organic N species

Lead Institution

Cornell University

Principal Investigator

Carmen Martinez

Project type

Exploratory Research

We propose a series of experiments aimed at elucidating the mechanisms associated with the incorporation of nitrate (NO3-) into soil organic matter (SOM), with broad implications for the N…

Investigation of mycogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles produced by Se(IV/VI)-reducing fungi under anoxic conditions

Lead Institution

University of Minnesota

Principal Investigator

Cara Santelli

Project type

Exploratory Research

Selenium (Se) is both a micronutrient required for most life and an element of environmental concern due to its toxicity at high concentrations. Selenium can exist as volatile, aqueous, or insoluble…

Unraveling Mechanisms of Complex Associations of Organic Carbon with Iron Oxide Minerals during Redox Transformations

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Exploratory Research

Fe(III)-oxide nanominerals are ubiquitous primary sorbents of organic carbon, organic acid exudates, and toxic metals in terrestrial, aquatic, and subsurface ecosystems. In soil ecosystems,…

Mapping the Organic-Mineral Interactions Responsible for Calcification in a Biogeochemically Significant Microbe

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Alexander Gagnon

Project type

Exploratory Research

The pace of skeletal growth in shells and bones is impacted by interactions between biologically produced organic compounds and the growing mineral. The organic component within biominerals is small,…

Chemical reactivity at complex solid/liquid interfaces for environmental and energy processes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Malsoon Lee

Project type

Exploratory Research

Modeling of the selective electrochemical hydrogenation for upgraded bio-oil at complex solid/liquid interface is important for a fundamental understanding and prediction of elctrocatalytic…

Computational Models and Methods for Describing Biogeochemical Transformations of Mercury

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jerry Parks

Project type

Exploratory Research

The objectives of this proposal are to develop realistic, environmentally relevant models of Hg-containing systems, investigate key mechanisms of Hg transformations that are important to global Hg…

Integrated multi-omic analysis of high lipid accumulation in the oleaginous green microalgae Ostreococcus tauri to engineer metabolic pathways for improved triacylglycerol feedstocks

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James Evans

Project type

Exploratory Research

Our proposed mutli-omic approach will empower a comprehensive understanding of cellular pathways linking carbon, nitrogen and phosphate metabolism in the microalga Ostreococcus tauri. The use of this…

The effect of C decomposition environment on plant detritus in soil organic matter

Lead Institution

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Principal Investigator

Randy Jackson

Project type

Exploratory Research

While it is established that increasing temperature and moisture increases the rate of soil C mineralization, we do not know whether these factors change the chemical quality or physical protection…

Rhizosphere processes influencing decomposition of soil organic matter and its contribution to phosphorus cycling

Lead Institution

University of Kentucky

Principal Investigator

David McNear

Project type

Exploratory Research

Using multi-technique approach, including a combination of NMR and ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry at EMSL, the overall objective of this study is to determine how P availability and…

Multiscale modelling of nanomorphology of large macro- and biomolecules in complex solutions to study biologically important energy harvesting systems

Lead Institution

National Research Council Canada

Principal Investigator

Sergey Gusarov

Project type

Exploratory Research

In this proposal, we aim a systematic computational investigation of the nanomorphology of organic macromolecules and biomolecules in a complex environment to model biologically important energy…