Research Highlights Archive
Research is our business. With an unwavering focus on our missions, scientists and engineers at PNNL deliver science and technology. We conduct basic research that advances the frontiers of science. We translate discoveries into tools and technologies in science, energy, the environment and national security.
For more than four decades, our experts have teamed with government, industry and academia to tackle some of the toughest problems facing our nation. The result: We’re delivering the science, technology and leadership our customers need to succeed.
To view previously featured research and scientist’s achievements, click on a month.
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January
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Even Algae Get Stressed—which Influences Photosynthetic Productivity
Using large-scale mass spectrometers located at EMSL, scientists discovered how blue-green algae use proteins and how they respond to varying natural conditions. Blue-green algae are responsible for nearly half of the photosynthesis necessary for sustaining life on earth and can be used to create renewable, carbon-neutral biofuels [ Full Story ]
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Digital Ants: One of Ten World Changing Ideas
PNNL researchers have developed digital ants that roam a computer network looking for perceived threats—similar to how real ants protect a nest. The project was cited as one of ten innovative technologies in Scientific American. [ Full Story ]
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Improving Commercial Building Energy Efficiency
PNNL is working with partners to make existing and new buildings more energy efficient. The goal is to retrofit existing buildings to exceed current energy efficiency codes by 30 percent, and to construct new buildings that exceed the codes by at least 50 percent. Commercial buildings account for nearly one-fifth of U.S. energy consumption. [ Full Story ]
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Uranium Movement in Groundwater Slower than Predicted
A new approach developed by PNNL for calculating uranium diffusion challenges traditional equations. Sediments and groundwater are contaminated by mining and processing sites. Knowing how uranium spreads is critical to removing the contamination. [ Full Story ]
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Outsmarting the Wind
PNNL scientists are using meteorological instruments in new ways to predict wind behavior. The data will help operators more effectively bring wind power on to the electrical grid. [ Full Story ]
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February
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Discovery of New Proteins and Body Scanner Honored
Two PNNL researchers received the Gordon Battelle Prizes for scientific discovery and impact. Awarded were the discovery of new proteins in spinal fluid that could help determine causes of neurological diseases and the millimeter wave technology incorporated into a body scanner that detects hidden contraband. [ Full Story ]
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Material Found that May Trap Carbon Dioxide Pollutant
PNNL and collaborators are hunting for materials to trap the pollutant carbon dioxide before it's released from fossil fuel combustion in industry and vehicles. They found a promising material. It inflates like an accordion, expanding to capture and hold the gas. [ Full Story ]
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DADB Molecule Opposite than Expectations
For nearly a century, nobody knew how the little molecule that's in the middle of many of today's hydrogen storage and fuel cell concepts was organized. Thanks to an interdisciplinary team of scientists at PNNL and other organizations, the structure of this molecule, known as DADB, has been determined. And DADB's structure was exactly opposite of what was expected in more ways than one. [ Full Story ]
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Predictive tools to manage ecological changes
PNNL scientists are using predictive tools to manage ecological changes driven by more frequent fires due to invasive plant species in the Mojave Desert. Collaborating with the U.S. Geological Survey, scientists are integrating recent advances in fire science and remote sensing tools to characterize the relationship between non-native invasive plant species and wildfire in the desert under current and changing climate conditions. [ Full Story ]
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Smart grid could reduce emissions by 12 percent
A smart electrical power grid could decrease annual electric energy use and utility sector carbon emissions at least 12 percent by 2030, according to a new report from PNNL. [ Full Story ]
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March
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Scientists Uncover Oxygen-Evolving Complex
Scientists uncovered the structure of an oxygen-evolving complex, or OEC, found in plants and algae. OEC is involved in photosynthesis, the process by which intermittent sunlight is used to create fuels. Experts want to design industrial plants to do the same. [ Full Story ]
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Tool Makes Search for Martian Life Easier
Finding life on Mars could get easier with an adaption to a common analytical tool developed by PNNL that can be installed directly on the robotic arm of a space rover. Scientists are testing whether the combination of laser ablation and an ion funnel could make "in place" mass spectrometry possible to analyze samples directly on Mar’s surface. [ Full Story ]
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New Platform for Catalytic Design
A more durable catalytic material for fuel cells has been discovered by PNNL scientists and collaborators. They combined graphene with metal oxide nanoparticles to stabilize a fuel cell catalyst for better catalytic action. This material has great potential to make fuel cells cheaper and longer lasting. [ Full Story ]
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Polluted Snow Causes Early Runoff, Stronger Monsoons in Asia
Researchers at PNNL, the University of Michigan and NOAA found that soot landing on snow on the Tibetan Plateau can do more to alter snowmelt and monsoon weather patterns in Asia than carbon dioxide and soot in the air. The study contributes to better understanding global climate change. [ Full Story ]
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April
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Start Your Engines
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Saharan Dust Impacts West African Monsoon Precipitation
The Saharan Desert causes mineral dust particles to blanket African skies. PNNL scientists learned dust particles partially block sunlight and absorb heat during the day. At night, that heat warms the land, making conditions ideal for nocturnal precipitation. This knowledge could help predict climate changes by modeling potential changes in dust associated with increasing future aridity. [ Full Story ]
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The Right Laser Wavelength Accelerates and Removes Oxygen from Thin Films
Using instruments at EMSL, scientists from PNNL, the University College London and Tohoku University discovered a new way to accelerate and remove oxygen atoms from thin films of calcium oxide. The discovery has implications for research and development in photochemistry, catalysis and microelectronics. [ Full Story ]
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Grid Friendly Appliance Controller Licensed
The Grid Friendly Appliance Controller developed by researchers at PNNL can temporarily shift how smart appliances use power to soften the blow for utilities during times of peak demand on the grid. The technology has been licensed to Encryptor of Plano, Texas, which plans to incorporate the controller into a new, low-cost chip that can be easily built into appliances. [ Full Story ]
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Affordability of Batteries Key to Harnessing Wind and Solar Power
Affordability of batteries key to harnessing wind and solar power Future batteries used by the energy grid to store power from the wind and sun must be reliable, durable and safe, but affordability is key to widespread deployment, according to research by PNNL scientists. Their findings are one of the most comprehensive reviews of electrochemical energy storage to date. [ Full Story ]
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May
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Discovery Clears Clouds Impact on Sunlight
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Wetter is Better When it Comes to Microbial Samples
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Atomic force microscope enables in situ imaging of mineral-fluid interfaces in supercritical carbon dioxide
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Fungus Genomes May Help Replace Fossile Fuels
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Algae could replace 17% of U.S. oil imports
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June
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New Tool Presents Aerosol Research Community with Common Modeling Testbed
The Aerosol Modeling Testbed provides the global modeling community with a way to systematically and objectively evaluate aerosol process modules to quantify uncertainties and improve global climate models. [ Full Story ]
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Addressing High False-Positive Rates for Mammograms
An antibody microarray analysis developed by PNNL and Duke University Medical Center holds promise for increasing accuracy of breast cancer screening. They found that different breast cancer subtypes produce distinct profiles of protein biomarkers in blood and that these biomarkers have the potential to differentiate between true and false positive screens. These subtype-specific biomarker panels may also be useful as an additional way to detect breast cancer. [ Full Story ]
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The Heat is On for Sodium-Manganese Oxide Rechargeable Batteries
By adding the right amount of heat, PNNL scientists and researchers from China have developed a method that improves the electrical capacity and recharging lifetime of sodium ion rechargeable batteries, which could be a cheaper alternative for large-scale uses such as storing energy on the electrical grid. [ Full Story ]
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Research Details Structure of First Component in an Electricity-conducting Shewanella Bacterial Wire
Shewanella bacteria can use metal ions in place of oxygen. By sending out wires made of proteins, Shewanella transform metals and trap them in minerals — useful for engineers who want to stop toxic metals from migrating in soil or groundwater. Researchers determined the structure of the first protein, providing insights into how bacteria live this way. [ Full Story ]
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Resolving Water's Electrical Properties
Scientists at PNNL ended a long-standing conflict regarding the behavior of electrons on the surface water by demonstrating that the contradictory measurements weren't wrong, but rather showed how water's electrons influenced one measurement more than the other. By clarifying the electrons actions, this study could change how scientists think about the electrical properties of water, aqueous chemistry, and other applications. [ Full Story ]
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July
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New catalyst for ethanol made from biomass
Using a protein as a guide, PNNL researchers designed a material that could make eventually energy-storing hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells. The synthetic material works 10 times faster than the original protein found in water-dwelling microbes. [ Full Story ]
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Brightening Clouds
What happens when tiny seawater particles are intentionally injected into low clouds over the ocean making them brighter? To answer this question, scientists at PNNL and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration developed a high-resolution model to better understand the effects of particle injection and evaluate whether this technique could be used to offset some effects of global warming. [ Full Story ]
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New Thermodynamic Model Predicts Plutonium Solubility with Iron
A hard-to-detect but stable form of iron helps convert subsurface plutonium from barely to very soluble PNNL scientists and collaborators discovered. Plutonium resides underground at weapons sites around the world. In one form, it stays put. But when soluble iron and a stable iron are present the plutonium becomes soluble, easily mixing with water. Soluble plutonium is a concern because it could mix with groundwater and flow into rivers and streams. [ Full Story ]
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Extracellular polymeric substances stop migration of subsurface contaminants
Scientists used a model organism isolated from a uranium seep of the Columbia River to quantify how extracellular polymeric substances in subsurface environments can be used to immobilize radionuclide contaminants such as uranium U (VI) at contaminated sites. Subsurface uranium is a significant contaminant at U.S. Department of Energy sites. [ Full Story ]
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Chemical imaging of individual salt particles advances aerosol research
By combining experimental approaches and molecular dynamics modeling, scientists gained new insights into the internal structure of sea salt particles and their fundamental chemical reactivity in the atmosphere. The research may lead to advances in aerosol research. [ Full Story ]
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September
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Making Fuel Cells Practical for Large-Scale Commercial Applications
Fuel cells hold the promise for green power, but a challenge in making them practical for commercial application is overcoming the high cost of platinum catalysts required for oxygen reduction reaction in the air cathode. Researchers, using specialized equipment at EMSL, reported new insights into how the atomic-scale structure of nanoengineered trimetallic alloy catalysts can be tuned to affect the fuel-cell performance over time. [ Full Story ]
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Sustainable Doesn't Mean Stagnant—Getting the Most from Nuclear Power Plants
The U.S. is looking to nuclear power as key in the sustainable energy mix of the future. To achieve higher power levels, researchers now are turning their attention to advanced fuel designs. PNNL is developing a new metal fuel for light water reactors intended to safely increase the power output of the existing reactors up to 10 percent, depending on the original reactor design. [ Full Story ]
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PNNL Scientist Receives Presidential Award
PNNL bioanalytical chemist Wei-Jun Qian received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House. The PECASE Award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers who are in the early stage of their research careers. Qian is developing more accurate methods using mass spectrometry to measure protein concentrations, which fluctuate as cells go about their daily tasks. [ Full Story ]
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October
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Research points to regional strategies to reduce urban air pollution
Reducing air pollution in an urban area will require large, regional strategies, said PNNL scientists and collaborators. They studied the effects of emission reduction efforts at the Beijing Olympics. Strategies to curtail noxious emissions before and during the Games presented an opportunity to study emissions reduction physics and provide policy makers a basis of information to make future public health decisions. [ Full Story ]
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Programming Language Gets New Support for Writing High-Performance Computer Codes
PNNL researchers have expanded the Global Arrays (GA) Toolkit to include full support for Python language and make it easier for programmers to write codes and take advantage of GA features. Programmers rely on the easy-to-use language to write high-performance computing codes in scientific applications such as bioinformatics, visual analytics, molecular dynamics, hydrology, material sciences and more. [ Full Story ]
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New Technology Enables Molecular-Level Insight into Carbon Sequestration
A team of EMSL and PNNL scientists developed a technology that enables molecular-level insight into carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is a potential solution for reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, but its scientific challenges are complex. Analytical tools are needed that provide information about the mineral-fluid interactions of carbon dioxide at the molecular level. The team designed and patented a unique, nuclear magnetic resonance capability that operates in conditions characteristic of geologic carbon sequestration. [ Full Story ]
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November
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Shewanella Proteins Could Be Used to Generate Energy or Immobilize Contaminants
PNNL Researchers have determined, for the first time, the molecular structure of the proteins that enable the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis to transfer an electrical charge. This new information is useful for the development of microbe-based agents that can be used to clean up legacy radioactive waste. [ Full Story ]
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The Birth of a Cloud Droplet
Wrapped in mystery, the formation of a cloud droplet comes down to physics. PNNL researchers led a team that helped peel away another layer of the cloud droplet conundrum. The team evaluated popular computational methods that describe how tiny particles in the atmosphere serve as seeds for cloud droplets. The findings will help scientists better quantify the impact of pollution, smoke and other emissions on the Earth’s climate. [ Full Story ]
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PNNL, Chinese researchers begin cooperative clean energy work
PNNL, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have formed the Clean Energy Partnership to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reducing technology. First, researchers will evaluate the challenges and costs of deploying emissions capture and storage technologies in China in depleted oil fields and deep geological formations. [ Full Story ]
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PNNL Chosen as a Premier Proteomics Center for Cancer
PNNL has been named one of five premier proteomics centers in the nation to study protein changes associated with cancer. The National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, picked PNNL as part of the launch of the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium. The goal of their research is to develop biomarkers that can be used to guide personalized therapies for individual patients. [ Full Story ]
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December
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Biomarkers Could Hold Ley to Early Detection of Breast Cancer
PNNL researchers are looking for protein biomarkers that can be used for early breast cancer detection with blood tests. Current detection methods — including mammograms and self-exams — typically find breast cancer after it's established. The goal is to find a method to diagnose cancer before it can grow. [ Full Story ]
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Bubbles Help Break Energy Storage Record for Lithium-Air Batteries
Resembling broken eggshells, graphene structures built around bubbles produced a lithium-air battery with the highest energy capacity to date, said scientists from PNNL and Princeton University. This black, porous material could replace the traditional smooth graphene sheets in lithium-air batteries, which become clogged with tiny particles during use. As an added bonus, the team’s new material does not rely on platinum or other precious metals, reducing its potential cost and environmental impact. Lithium-air batteries could allow for the creation of long-range electric vehicles, able to travel up to 300 miles between charges. [ Full Story ]
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Team Discovers Better Way to Identify Soil Carbon
A research team from the Joint Global Change Research Institute uncovered ways to better identify soil carbon. JGCRI is a partnership between PNNL and the University of Maryland. The research team found more efficient methods to separate components of soil respiration in forests, replacing labor-intensive techniques and leading to better knowledge in a poorly understood area of the carbon cycle. Measuring the carbon released into the air from soil is important to distinguish it from carbon contributed from human activities. [ Full Story ]
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Results Are In: Green Buildings Save Green
A study conducted by PNNL researchers for the Government Services Administration finds that green, federal buildings cost 19 percent less to maintain, emit less carbon dioxide, and use less water. The PNNL team conducted the analysis to evaluate how well the sustainably designed buildings are performing in comparison to average commercial buildings and to GSA's baseline measurements of its sustainably constructed buildings. [ Full Story ]
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Scientists Merge Spider Silk, Human Muscle to Design a Novel, Self-Assembling Peptide
Because of its high water content and polymer network, peptide hydrogel is a promising material for protein storage and transfer without significant loss of their biological activity. These hydrogels have potential as injectable materials for medical applications. Using instruments at EMSL, scientists from PNNL Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska used two native functional sequences from spider flagelliform silk protein and a trans-membrane motif of human muscle L-type calcium channel to design a self-assembling peptide, h9e. [ Full Story ]
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