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Breadcrumb

  1. Research
  2. Scientific Discovery
  3. Materials Sciences

Materials
Sciences

A multipronged
approach to a
multifaceted field

Researchers study the properties of different colors of glass.

Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Earth & Coastal Sciences
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    • Materials in Extreme Environments
    • Precision Materials by Design
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    • Solid Phase Processing
  • Nuclear & Particle Physics
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  • Explainer Articles

The useful properties of materials really depend on how you combine their component atoms and molecules. The right combination can yield remarkable properties, enabling battery electrodes with better performance, new materials to capture and store solar energy, or new materials for applications for health care and computing.

Similarly, PNNL chemists, physicists, biologists and materials scientists combine their talents, tools, and capabilities to unlock the mysteries of nanomaterial formation, interface interactions, and particle attachment. Their research benefits from access to two unique facilities located on the PNNL campus.

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory is a DOE scientific user facility equipped with transmission electron microscopes, nuclear magnetic spectrometers, molecular beam epitaxy capabilities, as well as scientific expertise for interpreting data from such instruments. The Radiochemical Processing Laboratory features specialized labs to analyze microgram-to-kilogram quantities of fissionable materials and other radionuclides.

Materials research at PNNL informs several key research objectives, including efforts focused on environmental sustainability, grid reliability, and national security.

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Facilities & Centers

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory Advanced Battery Facility Redox Flow Battery Laboratories Shallow Underground Laboratory Applied Process Engineering Laboratory Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Laboratory Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales

Related Divisions

Physical Sciences Division

Related Links

What are Nanomaterials?What is Photoelectron Spectroscopy?Job Openings

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