Newly designed sensor network comprehensively monitors a range of coastal landscapes to better understand nutrient and elemental dynamics that drive ecosystem function.

Exploring how shifting boundaries between upland and wetland areas influence soil processes and signal early ecosystem transformations.

A high-performance, scalable pipeline transforms raw high frequency coastal sensor data into research-ready datasets.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

This research helps predict how coastal forests will respond to future sea level changes which is crucial for protecting these ecosystems.

Due to their inherent variability and complexity over space and time, scientists are challenged to understand the complex interactions among soil, vegetation, and water along coastal terrestrial-aquatic interfaces.

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.

This study characterized above- and below-ground properties to explore the spatial heterogeneity of the terrestrial aquatic interface ecosystem within the Chesapeake Bay area and evaluate the major drivers of soil respiration.

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

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.