Projects

Deciphering the Chemical Language of Organic-Mineral Interactions to Develop New Biodesign Strategies and Improve Climate Records

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Alexander Gagnon

Project type

Exploratory Research

The shape and pace of skeletal growth in shells and bones are controlled though a complex set of interactions between biologically produced organic compounds and the growing mineral. If we could…

Single Cell Lipid Turnover Analysis in Advanced Biofuel Synthesis (SCLTA)

Lead Institution

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Gregory Stephanopoulos

Project type

Exploratory Research

Sustainable supersonic jets and race cars have become a reality due to the microbial production of advanced biofuels and their ‘drop in’ compatibility with the existing transportation infrastructure…

Probing bacterial extracellular electron transfer proteins using infrared nanospectroscopy

Lead Institution

Yale University

Principal Investigator

Nikhil Malvankar

Project type

Exploratory Research

Microbial metabolism plays an important role in the global cycling of carbon, nutrients, and metals. Recent discovery of microorganisms sharing energy using direct electrical connections might…

Collaborative Access Team: the Pooled Resources for Electron Microscopy Informatics, Education and Research (PREMIER) Network

Lead Institution

University of Liverpool

Principal Investigator

Nigel Browning

Project type

Exploratory Research

The executive committee of the Pooled Resources for Electron Microscopy Informatics, Education and Research (PREMIER) network is proposing to continue the collaborative access team (CAT) to optimize…

3-D Active Site Distribution and Porosity in Microporous Materials

Lead Institution

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Principal Investigator

Simon Bare

Project type

Exploratory Research

The aim of this proposal is to build upon our initial success in the exploration of the 3-D location and distribution of the Al and Si atoms in highly relevant and active microporous catalysts, with…

Understanding Doping and Coating for Improvement of Electrochemical Performance in High Voltage Lithium Ion Cathode Materials

Lead Institution

University of California, San Diego

Principal Investigator

Ying Meng

Project type

Exploratory Research

Lithium ion batteries are the top candidates for on-board energy storage in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as well as fully electric vehicles due to their high energy and power density. One group…

Numerical Studies of the Lifecycle of Aerosols and Their Interactions with Clouds

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jerome Fast

Project type

Exploratory Research

A major PNNL research effort, funded through DOE's Atmospheric System Research (ASR) Program, focuses on knowledge gaps in aerosol effects on climate, including: • Aerosol aging and its impact…

Investigation into MOF formation, post-synthetic modification (PSM) and post-synthetic exchange (PSE) via in situ liquid phase TEM analysis and high resolution TEM and STEM

Lead Institution

University of California, San Diego

Principal Investigator

Nathan Gianneschi

Project type

Exploratory Research

The kinetics and dynamics of metal–organic framework (MOF) formation and subsequent reactivity of the structural elements of MOFs have not been examined with nanoscale resolution. In situ TEM…

NMR studies of mass transport in Li-ion battery electrolyte solutions

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Venkat Srinivasan

Project type

Exploratory Research

Electrification of vehicles is a critical component of DOE's efforts to reduce the dependence on foreign oil and greenhouse gas emissions. Improvements and cost reductions in lithium-ion battery…

Dissolved Organic Matter in Serpentinization-Influenced Groundwater: Fingerprints of Deep and Shallow Sources

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Matthew Schrenk

Project type

Exploratory Research

The aim of this study is to provide a detailed description of the composition and the quantity of dissolved organic matter in serpentinite-hosted groundwaters, capitalizing upon a well-studied…

Investigating Electrochemical Processes in Next Generation Multivalent Battery Technologies

Lead Institution

University of Liverpool

Principal Investigator

Nigel Browning

Project type

Exploratory Research

The specific aim of this project is to probe the structure-property relationships of energy storage materials based on multivalent ions (Mg2+, Ca2+ and Al3+) under dynamic electrochemical cycling…

Characterizing motion and adhesion dynamics of motile microbes for improved prediction of metal bioremediation

Lead Institution

Desert Research Institute

Principal Investigator

Rishi Parashar

Project type

Exploratory Research

Remediation of metal and radionuclide contaminants in soil and groundwater systems is challenging because of their strong chemical interactions with mineral surfaces and low concentration limits for…

Operando spectroscopic studies of solvo-catalytic lignin disassembly

Lead Institution

University of California, Santa Barbara

Principal Investigator

Susannah Scott

Project type

Exploratory Research

Lignocellulosic biomass represents an abundant and renewable resource that could displace a significant amount of the nation’s petroleum, but its widespread utilization will require the development…

Molecular analysis of grass stem cell wall development for biofuel production enhancement

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Laura Bartley

Project type

Exploratory Research

This proposal is for pilot experiments toward developing a comprehensive proteome, phosphoproteome, and cell wall composition analysis of grass internode cell wall development. Grass cell walls are…

Field effect studies of CoxTi1-xO2 thin films

Lead Institution

Yale University

Principal Investigator

Jeng-Bang Yau

Project type

Exploratory Research

Co doped TiO2 is a dilute magnetic oxide semiconductor that is potentially promising for spintronics device applications. The ferromagnetism of CoxTi1-xO2 is believed to be mediated by the doped…

Optimization of peptide identification from tandem mass spectral data

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

William Cannon

Project type

Exploratory Research

Determining the correct sequence of amino acids for a peptide starting with MS/MS spectral data can be stated as an optimization problem where the objective is to match an experimental spectrum with…

Benchmarking Localized Coupled Cluster methods in the NWchem package

Lead Institution

University of Waterloo

Principal Investigator

Martinus Nooijen

Project type

Exploratory Research

Using the Tensor Contraction Engine developed by Dr. So Hirata we have implemented a localized coupled cluster approach in NWchem. The present and near-future capabilities of this implementation …

Proposal for Development of Mass Closure via PNNL PESA for Continuous Fine, Very fine, and Ultra-fine Aerosol Sampling for Health Impact Studies

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Thomas Cahill

Project type

Exploratory Research

"One of the most urgent needs for future progress in reducing the substantial impacts of ambient air particulate matter (PM) on human health is to determine which of the components are having…

Global measurments of phosphopeptides in human mammary epithelial cells.

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Richard Zangar

Project type

Exploratory Research

There is a need to understand fundamental regulatory mechanisms that regulate cell growth and differentiation in breast cells. This information can lead to new routes of treating or preventing…

Deployment of EMSL Instruments during the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES)

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Rahul Zaveri

Project type

Exploratory Research

The Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) will be conducted during summer 2010 in order to investigate the evolution of carbonaceous aerosols of different types and their optical…