Projects

Molecular Level Analysis of Photochemical Processing of Brown Carbon and Nitrogen Compounds in Atmospheric Aerosols

Lead Institution

University of California, Irvine

Principal Investigator

Sergey Nizkorodov

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Atmospheric aerosols have a profound effect on climate by scattering and absorbing solar and Earth radiation. They can be predominantly scattering (e.g., sea-salt aerosol), predominantly absorbing (e…

Investigating mechanisms for negative priming of soil organic carbon by pyrogenic carbon using NanoSIMS and LA-AMS

Lead Institution

Cornell University

Principal Investigator

Johannes Lehmann

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Reduced turnover rate (often referred to as “negative priming”) of soil organic carbon (SOC) by pyrogenic black carbon (pyC) has the potential to have dramatic long-term effects on soil carbon stocks…

Laser-Materials Interactions: Theory and Experiment (Kay's BES-Surface Kinetics, PNNL Scope #16248)

Lead Institution

University College London

Principal Investigator

Alexander Shlyuger

Project type

Exploratory Research

Laser ablation and desorption techniques form the basis of unique methods for producing novel materials, performing sophisticated chemical analysis or medical procedures. Although laser ablation…

Effects of iron and mixed communities on two anaerobic lignin decomposing bacteria

Lead Institution

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Principal Investigator

Kristen DeAngelis

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The fast growth, high efficiency and specificity of enzymes employed in bacterial anaerobic litter deconstruction makes these useful templates for improving biofuel production. There are few cultured…

In Search of a Sensitive Tc Sensor -- Design, Synthesis and Exploring of non-pertechnetate forms of Technetium

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Samuel Bryan

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The main objectives of this project is prepare a series of brand new type of technetium complexes with carbonyl and a third ligand based on the non-pertechnetae species found in Hanford tank wastes…

Secretomes from soil fungi in temperate forests and arid grasslands that are responsive to altered C and N deposition

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Cheryl Kuske

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Temperate ecosystems are experiencing increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen (N) deposition, which alter plant productivity and the amount and quality of above and belowground carbon. The…

Inorganic materials for pertechnetate detection and management

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Tatiana Levitskaia

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

One of the DOE-EM current challenges is to meet regulatory requirements for near term technetium (Tc) disposal due to excess Tc in DOE waste streams. Design of novel Tc separation and immobilization…

Capillary Fringe Effects on Volatile Organic Compound Transport from the Vadose Zone into Groundwater

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Mart Oostrom

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is the prevalent remediation approach for volatile organic contaminants in the vadose zone in the US, including at Department of Energy contaminated sites. A general, user…

Liquid Infrared Spectroscopy and Spill Phenomenology (Hylden FTIR-Liquids, PNNL Scope # 44568)

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Paul Gassman

Project type

Exploratory Research

We propose to measure the fundamental absorbance characteristics of neat liquids using a conventional Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). These optical constants are essential to…

Bringing the viral "unknown" to light through wild community and model system characterization

Lead Institution

The Ohio State University

Principal Investigator

Matthew Sullivan

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Ocean microbes drive the biogeochemistry that fuels the planet, and their viruses impact microbes through mortality, horizontal gene transfer, and directly manipulating microbial metabolisms. However…

Microbial EPS Interactions with Nanoparticles: A process influencing global transport to nanoscale-localization.

Lead Institution

University of South Carolina

Principal Investigator

Alan Decho

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Nanoparticles are ultra-small particulates often having novel properties. Their current use constitutes a multibillion dollar industry that is expected to rapidly grown in the near future…

Meeting the Challenge of Particulate Emissions from Future High-Efficiency Vehicles

Lead Institution

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Principal Investigator

David Rothamer

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Advanced low temperature combustion technologies currently under development offer the potential to dramatically increase the fuel efficiency of engines which run on gasoline and similar fuel blends…

Chemical Imaging Studies of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Atmospheric Aerosols

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Mary Gilles

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

A large fraction of atmospheric aerosols contain an internal mixture of organics and inorganic salts. As the relative humidity (RH) cycles in the atmosphere, these particles can undergo phase…

Mechanisms and Kinetics of Organic Aging in High-Level Nuclear Waste (PNNL Scope #29531)

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Thomas Autrey

Project type

Exploratory Research

Examine the aging of organic chemicals in high-level nuclear wastes stored in tanks at Hanford and develop a mechanistic model describing the reactions and kinetics. The part of the work involving…

Soil Carbon Stabilization At The Permafrost-Active Layer Boundary In An Arctic Tundra Ecosystem

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Margaret Torn

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

In preliminary studies, we have observed a stock of old, seemingly stable carbon immediately above the permafrost in soils from Barrow, Alaska. The proposed study will focus on the mechanisms…

Exploring the Molecular Driving Forces for Lanthanide and Actinide Complexation and Partitioning to Mineral Interfaces

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sue Clark

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

In this project, we will use a combination of optical spectroscopy techniques (time-resolved fluorescence and sum-frequency generation) and computational methods (molecular dynamics, density…

Ice Nucleation Properties of Authentic Atmospheric Marine Particles

Lead Institution

Sonoma Technology

Principal Investigator

Ryan Moffet

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The effect that aerosol particles have on climate is highly uncertain and has garnered much attention in recent years. Specifically, the effect that aerosol particles have on cloud formation is one…

Investigation of strain in InGaN MQW structures

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Michael Johnson

Project type

Exploratory Research

InGaN/GaN MQW structures have been grown using a commercial MOCVD reactor. These structures are commonly used for high brightness LEDs and are a necessary component for developing practical white…

Surface and Interfacial Chemistry of Nanoscale Multicomponent Inorganic Films and Structures

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Liney Arnadottir

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Transformation of small molecular precursors into inorganic solid-state compounds via solution methods has mainly focused on sol-gel techniques involving hydrolysis and condensation reactions of…

A Joint Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Bonding, Energetics, and Excited States of Uranyl Compounds

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Zheming Wang

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

One of the challenges in experimental investigations of actinide complexes is to determine their structures, bonding, and stabilities in solids and solutions. Our recent TRLIF work on U(VI), the…