Projects

Visualizing the three-dimensional organization of biopolymers within the plant root-matrix to understand the physiology and decomposability of roots

Lead Institution

Clemson University

Principal Investigator

Nishanth Tharayil Santhakumar

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plant roots contribute to a majority of carbon stored in soils. However, we still lack the parameters that can accurately forecast root decomposability, which hinders our ability to predict future…

Identification and Quantification of Active Bacterial Monooxygenases in Environmental Samples Using Activity-Based Protein Profiling (ABPP)

Lead Institution

North Carolina State University

Principal Investigator

Michael Hyman

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Bacterial monooxygenases are enzymes the initiate the aerobic biodegradation of a wide variety of environmentally important chemicals. These include key intermediates in the biogeochemical cycles of…

Probing the Mesoscale Structure of Complex Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Vijayakumar Murugesan

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Molecular interactions at electrode-electrolyte interface are pivotal to the modern energy storage/conversion and microelectronic devices. However, our predictive level understanding about the…

Sea spray aerosol: Composition, formation, evolution and properties

Lead Institution

University of Iowa

Principal Investigator

Vicki Grassian

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Here we propose to use the Department of Energy's EMSL facility to study the chemical composition and heterogeneous chemistry of sea spray aerosol which is a complex mixture of salt, biological…

Structural and functional analyses of multi-protein complexes regulating genotype to phenotype translations in plants

Lead Institution

Indiana University - Bloomington

Principal Investigator

Craig Pikaard

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

DNA-dependent RNA polymerases decode genetic information stored in DNA by converting the information into RNA. This enzymatic activity, known as transcription, is a critical step in the process by…

Investigation on Electrode/Electrolyte Interphase Reactions in Rechargeable Metal-Oxygen Batteries

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Wu Xu

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The objective of this proposal is to understand the reactions occurring at the electrode/electrolyte interphases in two metal-oxygen batteries, more specifically the interphases of lithium…

Shape, Structure, and Chemical Analysis of Mineral Dust Aerosol and Its Impact on IN activity

Lead Institution

University of Iowa

Principal Investigator

Vicki Grassian

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

A significant amount of atmospheric aerosol particles are aspherical, with complex shapes and morphological distributions of chemical components. This can greatly affect their climate relevant…

Carbon Dynamics across an Urban to Wildland interface in Subtropical, Central Florida

Lead Institution

University of Central Florida

Principal Investigator

Charles Hinkle

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Urban centers are a major global source of fossil-fuel emissions, and consequently a large source of carbon (C) to the atmosphere. Understanding the impact of urbanization on C cycling, is therefore…

Understanding Microbial Catabolism of Arctic Soil Organic Matter and Its Degradation Pathways: Identifying Precursors to Small Organic Acids

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Baohua Gu

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This user proposal aims to identify the specific components of Arctic soil organic matter (SOM) that are consumed during warming experiments in the laboratory and during the thaw season at the Barrow…

Understanding Phase Nucleation and Distribution in Conversion Materials: FeF2 and FeOF

Lead Institution

University of California, San Diego

Principal Investigator

Ying Meng

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lithium ion batteries are the top candidates for portable electronics and important for on-board energy storage in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as well as fully electric vehicles due to their…

Molecular-scale controls on heteroepitaxy at mineral-water interfaces

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sebastien Kerisit

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The objective of the proposed research is to elucidate and quantify the molecular-scale mechanisms of heteroepitaxial nucleation and growth at mineral-water interfaces. Despite several examples of…

Integration of Pore-Scale Simulations and Multi-Omics Data to Develop Insights into Functional Heterogeneity in Microbial Communities

Lead Institution

Marine Biological Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Zoe Cardon

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The microbial activities on which humanity and ecosystems depend are determined by both microbial community membership and the resources and conditions in the microbes' local environments. In…

NMR Studies of Mg+2 Intercalation Electrodes for Multivalent-Ion Batteries

Lead Institution

Argonne National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Baris Key

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lithium-ion batteries are currently the rechargeable battery systems of choice in any high energy density application. Existing materials are unable to keep up with the ever growing demands of the…

NMR structure determination of the cobalamin binding protein HgcA and the ferredoxin-like protein HgcB required for bacterial mercury methylation

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Alexander Johs

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Mercury is a pervasive global pollutant. Its methylated form, methylmercury, poses a substantial threat to human health. Methylation of mercury (Hg) by anaerobic bacteria is the primary source of…

Investigations on Behavior of Carbon-bearing Fluids Under Nanopore Confinement

Lead Institution

The Ohio State University

Principal Investigator

David Cole

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The overarching goal of this proposal is to obtain deeper insight into the behavior of low viscous energy resource fluids under confinement at solid interfaces. To achieve this goal we will (a)…

Structural Characterization of Lithium Rich Layered Transition Metal Oxide LMR-NMC type Cathodes for Li-ion Batteries: Experimental and Computational Approaches

Lead Institution

Argonne National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Baris Key

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lithium ion batteries are the rechargeable battery system of choice in any high energy density application such as power tools, mobile electronics and electric vehicles. New cathode chemistries, such…

Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Altered Flowering Times at Elevated [CO2]

Lead Institution

University of Kansas

Principal Investigator

Joy Ward

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Shifts in flowering time in response to climate change can alter both the timing and amount of carbon that is cycling within ecosystems. Atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) has increased from 270…

In-situ TEM study of electrochemically-driven phase transformations in battery storage compounds

Lead Institution

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Yet-Ming Chiang

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Many battery electrode materials, such as lithium transition metal olivines ( LiMPO4, M=Fe, Mn, etc) and oxide spinels (LiMn2O4, LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4, Li4Ti5O12, etc), exhibit phase transformation…

Computational Studies of Catalyzed Chemical Transformations of Biomass

Lead Institution

University of Alabama

Principal Investigator

David Dixon

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

There is a critical need to develop new, renewable sources of energy as well as feedstocks for the chemical industry. Biomass is a carbon neutral source of energy and can also address issues related…

Epigenetic engineering to increase expression of novel feedstocks and lignocellulolytic enzymes

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Michael Freitag

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Responses to environmental stimuli, e.g. changes in nutritional status, require space- and time-dependent transcription of genes in the context of chromatin, the assembly of DNA and proteins that…