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.

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

In a recent study, PNNL researchers found that noncrystalline mineral surfaces can bind microbial residues to build soil organic matter.

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

PNNL researchers have found yet another way to turn trash into treasure: using algal biochar, a waste production from hydrothermal liquefaction, as a supplementary material for cement.

Understanding molecular modifications of proteins in the red yeast could help scientists re-engineer the organism’s phenotype.

PNNL chemical engineer Mariefel Olarte shares passion for mentoring students and the next-generation workforce.

Researchers developed a robust, cost-effective, and easy-to-use cap-based technique for spatial proteome mapping, addressing the lack of accessible proteomics technologies for studying tissue heterogeneity and microenvironments.

Francesca Pierobon holds a joint appointment with UW and WSU to advance low-carbon technologies.

A cross-institutional team of scientists developed PeakQC, a new software tool for automated quality control of mass spectrometry data.

Despite the widespread presence of RNA viruses in soils, little is known about the relative contributions and interactions of biological and environmental factors shaping the composition of soil RNA viral communities.

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.

A team of researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory developed a new and flexible software tool called “Advanced Spectra PCA Toolbox.”

Sequencing of microbiome and characterization of metabolome revealed significantly different functions of fine root systems from four temperate tree species in a 26-year-old common garden forest.

Data reveals mechanisms in our bodies that can help us fight viral pathogenesis.

Spatial proteomics enables researchers to link protein measurements to features in the image of a tissue sample, which are lost using standard approaches.