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.

PNNL has formed a partnership with the Orlando-based firm Refinity, which has licensed a key process from PNNL that will help the company convert mixed plastic waste into valuable industrial products like chemicals, plastics, and fuels.

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

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.

Soil mineral preferentially incorporates rare earth elements based on size, with implications for critical mineral extraction.

This study used historical data, remote sensing, and aquatic sensors to measure how far wildfire impacts propagated through the watershed after the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire, New Mexico’s largest wildfire in history.

The Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales: Field, Measurements, and Experiments project established a network of observational field sites across Chesapeake Bay and western Lake Erie.

Recycling polyolefin materials is challenging. One waste management strategy is plastic upcycling. New work demonstrates a single-step upcycling route coupling cracking and alkylation, recycling carbon and keeping valuable resources active.

The diversity and function of organic matter in rivers at a large scale are influenced by factors, such as the types of vegetation covering the land, the energy characteristics, and the breakdown potential of the molecules.

A PNNL innovation uses steam to recover heat from the high-temperature reactor effluent in the HTL process, substantially reducing the propensity for fouling and potentially reducing costs.

ICON science is a Department of Energy-developed framework to enhance scientific outcomes via more intentional design of research efforts across all domains of science.

A new microbial community model reveals previous exposure to hydrologic variation influences a species’ specialized biogeochemical functions.

Detailed characterization of molecules in, under, and along the Columbia River reveal potential mechanisms for biogeochemical cycling.

Integrating hydrogeology and biogeochemistry are required to model the dynamics of geochemical processes occurring in river corridor zones where groundwater and surface water mix.

Theoretical analysis reveals flow variations that happen over longer time periods affect a plume’s spread and center of mass.

Principles derived from coastal wetlands to describe wetland channel cross-sections were applicable to the Columbia River estuary, but not the tidal river.

An updated version of a widely used database will provide powerful insights into the global carbon cycle.

Variability in field measurement conditions likely does not impact estimates of an important flux in the global carbon cycle.

Pacific Northwest marsh carbon stocks are twice the global average. Long-term sea-level rise impacts will likely decrease ecosystem carbon stocks.