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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.

Acid vapor weathering of Mars analog surface materials

Lead Institution
Johns Hopkins University
Principal Investigator
Charles Hibbitts
Project type
Exploratory Research
We propose an experimental study of weathering by volcanic acid gases under Mars-like atmospheric conditions on terrestrial analogs to Martian minerals and rocks. We intend to characterize acidic…

Characterization of nanostructured ceramics

Lead Institution
Washington State University
Principal Investigator
Susmita Bose
Project type
Exploratory Research
Nanostructured calcium phosphates, titanium dioxide and lead zirconate titanate ceramics will be characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). This ceramics were…

X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Materials for Hydrogen Storage

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Barbara Tarasevich
Project type
Exploratory Research
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy will be performed on conducting polymers such as polyaniline and polypyrole, polymer-mesoporous silica composites, and ammonium borane-mesoporous silica composites. …

synthesis of Cu2O under protein control

Lead Institution
University of Washington
Principal Investigator
Haixia Dai
Project type
Exploratory Research
The overall goal of this research is to develop a novel biomineralization strategy to engineer inorganic materials with controlled structure under mild processing conditions as nature does, for…

Structure and Performance of DNA Biosensors

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Cindy Bruckner-Lea
Project type
Exploratory Research
Biosensors typically rely on designing a surface that is functionalized with biomolecules that specifically bind analytes of interest. These surfaces often include specific oligonucleotide sequences…

Surface Analysis of IAQ VOC sensors

Lead Institution
AirAdvice Inc.
Principal Investigator
Meindert Kleefstra
Project type
Exploratory Research
IAQ sensors are used to detect low levels of volatile organic compounds in air. The sensors use an meatl oxide semiconductor later with a WO3 catalysts on an alumina substrate. The conductivity of…

Surface state characterization of
Pt/Al2O3 catalyst for the CPO Reaction

Lead Institution
Kansas State University
Principal Investigator
Keith Hohn
Project type
Exploratory Research
Catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) of hydrocarbons and alcohols is an efficient means for producing hydrogen. At high flow rates, this process can operate without the addition of any process heat,…

Gas cell metalization

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Justin McIntyre
Project type
Exploratory Research
Use e-beam and metal sputtering chamber located in 1317 and 1321 to evaporate metal onto plastic scintillator. Purpose is to study effects of light absorption and noble gas absorption from plastic…

Electronic and structural properties of surfaces and interfaces

Lead Institution
Ames Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Cai-zhuang Wang
Project type
Exploratory Research
This research is aimed at understanding the roles that surfaces and interfaces have on the properties of materials. Primarily, this work is separated into two areas: calculations of semiconductor…

Development of Cell Permeable Dyes for in-vivo Live Cell Imaging

Lead Institution
Western University of Health Sciences
Principal Investigator
Thomas Squier
Project type
Exploratory Research
. Our long-term goal is to develop the necessary reagents and technology for the rapid identification of a substantial fraction of the multiprotein complexes in an organism, thereby permitting a…

Interposer Profile Measurements

Lead Institution
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Principal Investigator
Lawrence Bowman
Project type
Exploratory Research
The purpose of this effort is to characterize the heights and shapes of screen printed structures. The structures are fabricated from a commercial RTV elastomer (Dow Corning 6910) via precision…

Proteomic analysis of Arthrobacter

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Allan Konopka
Project type
Exploratory Research
This project proposes to use advanced proteomic analysis available at EMSL to provide information for the annotation of a bacterial genome. The genome sequence of Arthrobacter FB24, a chromium and…

Analysis of Lipid Nanoparticle Interaction with Cell Membrane

Lead Institution
Bowling Green State University
Principal Investigator
H. Peter Lu
Project type
Exploratory Research
Lipid nanoparticle is an important medical agent to cure cancer, especially in gene therapy cancer treatment. To understand the interaction of lipid nanoparticle with cell membrane is critically…

Chemical Analysis of Nano-structures for Toxic Gas Detection

Lead Institution
South Dakota State University
Principal Investigator
David Galipeau
Project type
Exploratory Research
New chemical agent detectors for toxic and explosive gases are of high current interest due to new requirements for homeland security. The most common technology for detecting many of these gases…

Synthesis and Characterization of Enzyme Nanoparticles.

Lead Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Guodong Liu
Project type
Exploratory Research
The detection of protein is of central importance to the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, for the detection of infectious agents, and for reliable forensic analysis. The emergence of…