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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. 

Projects displayed below reflect information and abstracts that were published before April 30, 2024. To review current EMSL user projects, visit Science Central™.

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

Electron energy loss in radiation detection materials

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Bret Cannon
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The proposed project will develop the capability at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to measure processes by which high energy electrons lose energy in solids and how that lost energy is…

Surface and Bulk Characterization of Ambient Ultrafine Particles

Lead Institution
Central Washington University
Principal Investigator
Anne Johansen
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The ultrafine fraction of airborne particulate matter (UFP's - < 100 nm diameter) have been shown to cause significant oxidative stress and damage to mitochondrial membranes. Since this size…

Surface Characterization of Calcium Phosphates

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Wendy Shaw
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Heterogeneous nucleation is important in the development of biominerals such as bone, teeth and mollusk shells, but often, initial nucleation events are not understood at a mechanistic level(1). It…

Structure-function correlations of proteins in enamel formation

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Wendy Shaw
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Heterogeneous nucleation is important in the development of biominerals such as bone, teeth and mollusk shells, but often, initial nucleation events are not understood at a mechanistic level. It is…

Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy on Radioactive Samples with Microcoils

Lead Institution
CEA Saclay
Principal Investigator
Dimitris Sakellariou
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The first phase of this project will be concerned with the development of a novel NMR detector based on the microcoil designs of the CEA-Saclay solid-state NMR group. The successful implementation…

Mixed Oxide Films for gas sensing and photo-catalytic applications

Lead Institution
Wayne State University
Principal Investigator
Karur Padmanabhan
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The proposed research is a joint effort between WSU and EMSL laboratory at PNNL to study mixing between specific oxide-oxide systems and understand the mixing mechanisms under 2 different…

Local structure in zirconia-based nuclear fuels and transmutation targets

Lead Institution
University of Cambridge
Principal Investigator
Ian Farnan
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
A programme of work is proposed to understand local ordering in inert matrix nuclear fuels based on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). This information is unobtainable using diffraction techniques…

Quorum Sensing in a Dissimilatory Metal Reducing Bacterium

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Michael Hochella
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Quorum sensing is a versatile regulatory mechanism exhibited by several members of Bacteria. Even though this area of research is a rapidly growing field with clear environmental applications, it…

Raman Capability for EMSL Users

Lead Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Nancy Hess
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Currently users of the EMSL facility do not have access to a to a dedicated Raman system. The objective of this proposal is to establish a usage agreement between the Environmental Spectroscopy…

Molecular Level Construction of Functional Surfaces

Lead Institution
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator
Sergiu Gorun
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The objective of the proposed work is to develop procedures for molecular level construction of layers of hybrid organic inorganic composites exhibiting divergent, but useful properties. Examples of…

Chemistry of Aerosols in Mexico City: MILAGRO 2006 study.

Lead Institution
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Mary Gilles
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The MILAGRO (Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations) Campaign in Mexico City 2006 was a collaborative effort with the DOE Atmospheric Science Program, the NSF MIRAGE-Mex field…

Chemical and Physical Properties of Biomass Burning Aerosol

Lead Institution
Colorado State University
Principal Investigator
Jenny Hand
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Biomass burning is one of the most important single sources of carbonaceous particles emitted into atmosphere mostly as a result of wilderness fires. Biomass burning aerosols (BBA) have dramatic…

Selective Heterogeneous Catalysis

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Leonard Fifield
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
(Abstract from PNNL Lab Fellows LDRD proposal) [In this project we will create a "single site" catalysis capability at PNNL by robustly tethering catalytic centers to surfaces . The …

Ion Beam Analysis of Components for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Lead Institution
Montana State University
Principal Investigator
Richard Smith
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The objective of the proposed research is to develop components for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that will withstand the corrosive operating environment of the cell (800 oC, atmosphere of hydrogen,…