Projects

In situ Solid-State NMR Study of Biomass Conversion in Porous Catalysts

Lead Institution

University of California, Santa Barbara

Principal Investigator

Susannah Scott

Project type

Exploratory Research

Biomass represents a renewable and potentially carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels for the production of carbon-based chemicals and fuels. Although efficient heterogeneous catalysis is vital…

High Resolution Electron Microscopy Study of Chlorinated gamma-Al2O3

Lead Institution

University of California, Santa Barbara

Principal Investigator

Susannah Scott

Project type

Exploratory Research

Chlorination profoundly alters the surface chemistry of gamma-alumina, and consequently its catalytic properties. Such materials are of high interest in energy conversion, notably hydrocarbon…

Towards Complete Characterization of Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds of Relevance for Atmospheric Aerosol Formation

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Kelley Barsanti

Project type

Exploratory Research

Atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has long been linked to deleterious health effects and to radiative climate forcing. A significant mass fraction of PM2.5 is composed of organic compounds…

Emergent Behavior of Micro-structured Surfaces

Lead Institution

San Diego State University

Principal Investigator

Ilenia Battiato

Project type

Exploratory Research

Surfaces with microscale topological features are ubiquitous in nature and they constitute the physical boundaries that regulate and control energy and mass fluxes between adjacent systems. The…

Bacterial-Algal Synergism Improves Algal Biomass Production

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Rose Ann Cattolico

Project type

Exploratory Research

Background: In the proposed work we will use a newly developed experimental system comprised of the alga Chrysochromulina tobin (Haptophyceae) and a bacterial microbiome of limited number (~10…

Systems Biology of the Rumen Microbiome: Towards a Multi-Scalar Understanding of Biomass Degradation

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Matthias Hess

Project type

Exploratory Research

We have shown recently that the composition of the microbial community in the cow rumen is substrate driven, changes its composition during biomass-degradation and that it possesses a large…

Microbial Carbon Transformations in Wet Tropical Soils: The Effects of Warming, Drying, and Redox Fluctuation

Lead Institution

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Pett-Ridge

Project type

Exploratory Research

Tropical forest soils store more carbon (C) --as plant litter and decomposed organic matter-- than any other terrestrial ecosystem and play a critical role in the production of greenhouse gases …

Design of Cathode Materials for Li-ion Batteries with High Capacity

Lead Institution

University of Minnesota

Principal Investigator

Donald Truhlar

Project type

Exploratory Research

This project involves the understanding and design of new cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries by carrying out and analyzing electronic structure calculations employing density functional…

Photochemical Dynamics of Methylamine and Bromoacetyl Chloride: Model Systems for Method Testing and Development

Lead Institution

University of Minnesota

Principal Investigator

Donald Truhlar

Project type

Exploratory Research

In this study, we will analyze computationally the photodissociation of methylamine (CH3NH2) and bromoacetyl chloride (C2H2BrClO) by using a set of methods for modeling photodynamics that are under…

Microbial role in disintegration and formation of clay mineral-organic matter associations

Lead Institution

Miami University

Principal Investigator

Hailiang Dong

Project type

Exploratory Research

Recent study estimates that soil is one of the three largest reservoirs of organic matter (OM) on Earth. Soil carbon is a highly dynamic carbon repository, and its turnover time has a major impact on…

Colony plasticity of filamentous fungi

Lead Institution

Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute

Principal Investigator

Ronald de Vries

Project type

Exploratory Research

We will use the ascomycete industrial workhorse A. niger, which is one of the best studied fungal species with respect to plant biomass conversion. In nature, fungal colonies can cover substantial…

The Transformation of Tetrahedral to Octahedral Coordination in Anions of Interest in High-Level Tank Waste

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jian-zhi Hu

Project type

Exploratory Research

We propose to use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Raman and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in combination with computational modeling to study the conversion of soluble tetrahedral…

In situ Observation of Nanoscale Dynamic Interfacial Processes and Structural Transformations in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for Gas Storage and Sensing Technologies

Lead Institution

University of California, San Diego

Principal Investigator

Nathan Gianneschi

Project type

Exploratory Research

High-capacity gas storage and separation materials have tremendous potential for applications in alternative energy generation (hydrogen fuel cells) and in environmental and human health protection …

The effect of trace element content on the rate of biotic and abiotic pyrite oxidation

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Timothy Lyons

Project type

Exploratory Research

The oxidation of pyrite is a common source of toxic trace elements and acid generation in many contaminated systems. A key component in understanding the potential threat to ecosystems and possible…

Controlling topotactic phase transitions in oxide thin films

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Yingge Du

Project type

Exploratory Research

The objective of this research is to understand, predict, and control the phase transitions occurring in structurally ordered thin films to enable the rational design, synthesis, and utilization of…

Towards Complete Characterization of Gas-Phase Organic Compounds Emitted from Biomass Burning

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Kelley Barsanti

Project type

Exploratory Research

Biomass burning emits teragrams (1012 g) of gaseous organic compounds to the atmosphere. In-plume chemistry leads to the formation of secondary pollutants and short-lived climate forcers, including…

Water condensation in unsaturated mineral-organic assemblages

Lead Institution

Umea University

Principal Investigator

Jean-Francois Boily

Project type

Exploratory Research

This objective of this work is to predict condensation of atmospheric water vapor in the vadose zone of organic-bearing soils. It will primarily develop knowledge on the formation of condensed forms…

Infrared Nanoscopic Imaging of Structural and Globular Proteins

Lead Institution

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Principal Investigator

Joanna Atkin

Project type

Exploratory Research

This work uses infrared near-field optical spectroscopy to investigate the secondary structure of fiber-forming and globular proteins with nanoscale spatial resolution. These protein classes are…

Life in the deep terrestrial subsurface: microbial metabolism before and after shale gas extraction

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Michael Wilkins

Project type

Exploratory Research

Black shales underlay much of the continental U.S., and are a critical component of current and future energy resources. To extract hydrocarbons from these formations, shales are hydraulically…

Understanding enzymatic depolymerization of lignin

Lead Institution

Sandia National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Michael Kent

Project type

Exploratory Research

Producing fuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass is a promising technology to meet the nation's goal of a secure and sustainable energy future. Valorization of lignin is a key…