Projects

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…

Understanding NOx SCR Mechanisms and Activity on Cu/Chabazite Structures throughout the Catalyst Life Cycle

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Charles Peden

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This proposed EMSL use will enable research that has been recently funded at PNNL by the Department of Energy (DOE), and at the remainder of the partner institutions by a joint DOE/National Science…

Mn oxide mineral formation by an expressed bacterial Mn(II,III)-oxidizing multicopper oxidase

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Bradley Tebo

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Microbial Mn(II) oxidation is an important environmental process that links the biogeochemical cycle of Mn with the cycling of C, N, P, and many trace metals and radionuclides. The Mn oxides…

Immobilization of Actinides in Garnets

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Alexandra Navrotsky

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The garnet structure is a promising nuclear waste form due to its potential of accommodating various actinide elements. Study of tetravalent cation substitution in a simple garnet system may shed…

Comparative proteomic analysis of sweet and grain sorghum stem internodes: mechanisms of sugar accumulation for bioenergy

Lead Institution

University of Arkansas, Monticello

Principal Investigator

Benjamin Babst

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The amount of biomass produced by plants and its composition is largely dependent on fixation of atmospheric CO2 as sugars through photosynthesis by plants. Among the several potential bioenergy…

Understanding Lignin Depolymerization in Ionic Liquid

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Blake Simmons

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The primary goal of the proposed work is to understand the dissolution and depolymerization mechanism of lignin in ionic liquids (ILs) using both experimental and computational approaches. Lignin is…

Improving Climate Records Through a Mechanistic Understanding of Sub-Micron Heterogeneity in Environmental Materials

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Alexander Gagnon

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

From the pace of the ice ages to how the carbon cycle has changed through time, much of what we know about earth history and climate dynamics is based on proxies. Recorded as trace element anomalies…

Molecular Interactions at the Interface of Engineered Nanoparticles and Biological Membranes

Lead Institution

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Principal Investigator

Joel Pedersen

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The proposed project focuses on applying EMSL's outstanding capabilities in super resolution and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy (Galya Orr), high-resolution vibrational spectroscopy (hr…

Untangling the complexity of phototroph-heterotroph interactions in the lab and in the field

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

H Wiley

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Despite the fact that ubiquitous microbial interspecies interactions form the foundation of energy flow as well as the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other elements within natural environments,…

Microbial controls on climate active trace gas cycling in a model oxygen minimum zone

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Steven Hallam

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Dissolved oxygen (O2) concentration is a critical organizing principle within marine ecosystems. As oxygen levels decline, energy is increasingly diverted away from higher trophic levels into…

Integrating genome-scale metabolic modeling of a microbial community into simulations of subsurface flow and biogeochemical reactive transport.

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Steven Yabusaki

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The goal of this project is to develop a mechanistic, quantitative, and predictive simulation capability for coupled flow and biogeochemical reactive transport that accounts for: - genome-specific…

Model-guided biofuel production enhancement of metabolically engineered E. coli.

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Hector Garcia Martin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

At the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) we have been able to metabolically engineer E. coli and S. cerevisiae strains that produce biofuel molecules such as bisabolene or fatty acid ethyl esters. In…

Identifying the key organisms, pathways and locations of hydrogen fermentation from lignocellulosic biomass in wood-feeding Passalid beetles.

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Eoin Brodie

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Passalid beetles, such as Odontotaenius disjunctus, are subsocial insects that process large amounts of woody biomass by feeding on triturated wood. With the development of symbiotic relationships…