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Weird, water-oozing material could help quench thirst

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Nanorods created by PNNL researchers have an unusual property -- spontaneously emitting water. After further development, the nanorods could be used for water harvesting and purification, or sweat-gathering fabric.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology
Funder: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

PNNL helps lead national microbiome initiative

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists Janet Jansson and Ljiljana Paša-Toli are part of a core group of scientists leading a national effort to understand communities of microorganisms and their role in climate science, food production and human health.

Journal: Nature Microbiology

Chemists settle longstanding debate on how methane is made biologically

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Like the poet, microbes that make methane are taking chemists on a road less traveled: Of two competing ideas for how microbes make the main component of natural gas, the winning chemical reaction involves a molecule less favored by previous research, something called a methyl radical. Reported today in the journal Science, the work is important for understanding not only how methane is made, but also how to make things from it.

Journal: Science
Funder: Department of Energy

Thinning out the carbon capture viscosity problem

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have used computer modeling to design carbon dioxide binding materials so that they retain a low viscosity after sponging up carbon dioxide, based on a surprise they found in their explorations. Although the chemists still have to test the predicted liquid in the lab, being able to predict viscosity will help researchers find and design cheaper, more efficient carbon capture materials, they report in Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Journal: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Three PNNL scientists receive DOE Early Career Research awards

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Grant and Award Announcement

Three scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been selected to receive 2016 Early Career Research Program research grants from the US Department of Energy. Scientists Yingge Du, Kirsten Hofmockel and James Moran will receive funding to further their studies in climate science, energy storage, and other areas important to the nation.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

A cleansing rain falls; a soil-filled mist arises

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have found that rain triggers the release of a mist of particles from wet soils into the air, a finding with consequences for how scientists model our planet's climate and future. The evidence comes in the form of tiny glassy spheres, less than one-hundredth the width of a human hair, discovered in the Great Plains.

Journal: Nature Geoscience
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Cleaning up hybrid battery electrodes improves capacity and lifespan

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Hybrid batteries that charge faster than conventional ones could have significantly better electrical capacity and long-term stability when prepared with a gentle-sounding way of making electrodes. Called ion soft-landing, the high-precision technique resulted in electrodes that could store a third more energy and had twice the lifespan compared to those prepared by a conventional method, the researchers report in Nature Communications.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Department of Energy

Unexpected discovery leads to a better battery

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An unexpected discovery has led to a zinc-manganese oxide rechargeable battery that's as inexpensive as conventional car batteries, but has a much higher energy density.

Journal: Nature Energy
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Powerful mass spectrometer opens new vistas for scientists

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Business Announcement

Scientists now have access to a powerful new resource to help them address pressing science challenges related to the environment, biology and energy. The new 21 Tesla Ultra-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometer, or the 21T for short, allows scientists to analyze and separate atoms and molecules according to their size and molecular structure with a clarity and precision well beyond conventional mass spectrometers.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Microbes take center stage in workings of 'the river's liver'

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have found evidence that rising river waters deliver a feast of carbon to hungry microbes where water meets land, triggering increased activity and altering the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

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