Skip to main content

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.

Solution structure of a 42 kDa "metal sensor" CzrA-DNA complex

Lead Institution
Indiana University - Bloomington
Principal Investigator
David Giedroc
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The ArsR (or ArsR/SmtB) family of winged helix-loop-helix proteins (ααααββα)regulate metal ion detoxification and resistance in…

Protein Interactions and Interfaces

Lead Institution
Rutgers University
Principal Investigator
Gaetano Montelione
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
All proteins interact with other molecules: ligands, metals, membranes, surfaces or other proteins. Such interactions are intrinsic to protein function. We propose to leverage our successful program…

Oxide Surface Structure and Acidity

Lead Institution
Brigham Young University
Principal Investigator
Barry Bickmore
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
If we are to understand interfacial geochemical reactions on a molecular scale and apply the insights we gain to field-scale modeling, we must find ways to integrate the results of molecular-scale…

Bone growth on tailored biomimetic surfaces

Lead Institution
University of Jyvaskyla
Principal Investigator
Harry Whitlow
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Bone is a natural composite material comprising cells, mainly osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes in a mineralized matrix made up mostly of hydroxyapatite and type-I collagen. One major barrier…

Defects and Defect Processes in Ceramics

Lead Institution
University of Tennessee
Principal Investigator
William Weber
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The proposed work is to develop fundamental understanding of defects, defect processes and interfaces in ceramics at the atomic level. In addition, the work will focus on the role of interfaces on…

Cryogenic XPS Study of Metal Oxide/Water Interfaces

Lead Institution
Umea University
Principal Investigator
Jean-Francois Boily
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The object of this research is to investigate the generation of charge at the metal oxide/water interface using the cryogenic capabilities of the PHI Quantum 2000 XPS of the Interfacial and Nanoscale…

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…