Amine functionalized graphene oxide yields laminates with an enhanced capacity to adsorb rare earth elements, improved water transport, and greater stability for effective membrane-based separation of critical minerals.

Five PNNL innovations earned 2026 R&D 100 Awards for advances in biotechnology, manufacturing, critical minerals, and nuclear security.

PNNL partners with businesses to test new HVAC technologies at commercial buildings to evaluate the performance of next-generation RTUs.

New partnership agreement to focus on AI, robotics, and advanced energy systems.

Chiral nanotubes facilitate the direction-specific diffusion of carbon dioxide to be faster than nitrogen gas.

Novel Applications for Synchronized Power Instrumentation seeks to improve electric grid resilience, reliability, security, and affordability.

Replacing commercial acid with acidic waste enables researchers to improve nickel extraction efficiency, lower projected costs, and improve process economics.

PNNL addresses vulnerabilities interconnected to operational technologies by improving cybersecurity with targeted tools and trainings.

Connecting energy generation, electricity storage, and using sensors and control software to track load, including precommercial market marine energy generation technologies.

Localized gradients in magnetic fields have long-range effects on the concentration of rare earth ions in solution, facilitating field-driven extraction of critical minerals.

Studying a series of rare earth element compounds revealed differences in their magnetic behavior that will be leveraged for separations.

A new patent-pending technology can quickly identify refrigerant leakage in heating, cooling, and refrigeration systems.

Nanoscale domains of magnetically susceptible critical materials encounter enhanced magnetic interactions under external magnetic fields, providing a promising new avenue for separations.

The size of graphene oxide sheets affects the ability of assembled membranes and adsorbents to separate rare earth elements.

A PNNL team has developed an energy- and chemical-efficient method of separating valuable critical minerals from dissolved solutions of rare earth element magnets.

The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit brings together researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors to showcase the latest technologies shaping tomorrow’s energy landscape. This year, eight projects led by PNNL were featured.

Surface manganese mining from nodules in South Dakota is now possible with a new scalable selective precipitation process.

Cobalt substitution for magnesium in a model mafic mineral dramatically slows reaction with carbon dioxide to form a cobalt-doped carbonate.

Precipitation with sodium hydroxide in a flow-gel device enables the rapid extraction of magnesium from seawater in a new scalable process.

Research that modeled increased heat pump adoption alongside climate change impacts in Texas showed that high-efficiency heat pumps buffer the strain that electric heating might put on the power grid.