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.

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.

PNNL researchers Daniel Deng and Yehia Ibrahim join the 2025 class of National Academy of Inventors Fellows.

From developing new energy storage materials to revealing patterns of Earth’s complex systems, studies led by PNNL researchers are recognized for their innovation and influence.

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

ThermalTracker-3D can help streamline permitting, reduce costs, and shorten development time of energy projects.

The ability of a storm-resolving weather model to predict the growth of storms over central Argentina was evaluated with data from the Clouds, Aerosols, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) field campaign in central Argentina.

Researchers have developed the first coastal transport model for microplastics to understand how particles move in waterways and coastal currents.

Researchers from PNNL and Parallel Works, Inc., applied machine learning methods to predict how much oxygen and nutrients are used by microorganisms in river sediments.

Expanding the nation’s largest wind power plant time series database; helping grid planners navigate a resilient energy future with better data.

Lakes are important sentinels of climate change and contribute significantly to the emissions of the second most important greenhouse gas—methane.

The rate of conversion of cloud droplets to precipitation, known as the autoconversion rate, remains a major source of uncertainty in characterizing aerosol’s cloud lifetime effects and precipitation in global and regional models.

To assess the impact of observation period and gauge location, model parameters were learned on scenarios using different chunks of streamflow observations.

Engineers at PNNL devised a system that allows radar antennae to maintain stable orientation while mounted on platforms in open water that pitch and roll unpredictably. They were recently invited to participate in DOE's I-Corps program.

This study presents an automated method to detect and classify open- and closed-cell mesoscale cellular convection (MCC) using long-term ground-based radar observations.

PNNL's accomplishments in FY 2024 help address the remaining challenges the wind industry faces.

With the launch of a large research barge, PNNL and collaborators took another significant step to improve offshore wind forecasting that will lower risk and cost associated with offshore wind energy development.

PNNL and collaborators developed new models—recently approved by the U.S. Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC)—to help utilities understand how new grid-forming inverter technology will enhance grid stability.