Researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory reviewed the current state of knowledge about the impacts of climate change on soil microorganisms in different climate-sensitive soil ecosystems.

Enzyme production in peatlands reduces carbon lost to respiration under future high temperatures.

Nitrogen is a critical nutrient regulating productivity in many ecosystems and influences nutrient availability by affecting organic matter decomposition rates.

Despite a breadth of research on carbon accrual and persistence in soils, scientist lack a strong, general understanding of the mechanisms through which soil organic carbon (SOC) is destabilized in soils. In a new review article, researcher

Agent-based models of water resource management can include the interaction between human-engineered systems and natural processes

Scientists at PNNL's Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) are working to understand the fundamental reactivity of H2 that could contribute to making hydrogen a more widely used fuel source.

Using a bio-inspired design that mimics nature's catalysts-enzymes, researchers at PNNL have designed a rarely seen reversible synthetic catalyst.

A unique strategy sharpens understanding of the behavior and physics within the model’s atmospheric component.

At PNNL, scientists have mapped the reaction that turns wind-generated electricity into fuel and the amount of energy needed for each step.

Dr. Morris Bullock and Dr. Monte Helm reviewed the catalysis research at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, where Bullock is the director, in a recent article in Accounts of Chemical Research.

Generating power without gasoline, diesel, or coal could change our nation's energy and security landscape. However, replacing technologies that use fossil fuel with ones that require rare metals is unsustainable.

Making hydrogen economically demands a quick, efficient reaction. Creating that reaction demands a catalyst. CME scientists found that a proton and water-packed environment lets the catalyst work 50 times faster—without added energy.

Quickly, reliably turning wind energy into fuel means looking beyond the catalyst to its foundation, according to a recent study from the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis.

At PNNL, scientists have elaborated on a strategy to map the catalytic route. Scientists can now explore design decisions with molecular catalysts that store or release energy from the chemical bond in dihydrogen (H2).

In an invited ACS Catalysis Viewpoint paper, scientists at PNNL proposed a way to measure and report the energy efficiency of molecular electrocatalysts.

Scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) devised a new computation-based method to predict the catalytic intermediates that could represent a thermodynamic sink.

Taking a cue from enzymes, researchers at PNNL placed the amino acid arginine at the periphery of a hydrogen-splitting catalyst that cleaves hydrogen into protons and electrons.

Like ripping open a dinner roll, a fuel cell catalyst that converts hydrogen into electricity must tear open a hydrogen molecule. Now researchers have captured a view of such a catalyst holding onto the two halves of its hydrogen feast.

In their invited review for Chemical Communications, Dr. R. Morris Bullock, Dr. Aaron Appel, and Dr. Monte Helm at PNNL describe how proton relays and other factors influence the catalysts that produce the desired chemical bonds.

Using their understanding of a proton's choices, CME researchers revised their nickel-based catalyst to quickly handle one of a fuel cell's tough challenges: breaking chemical bonds and freeing the stored electrons to work.