PNNL

Dr. Aaron D. Nicholas, PhD, is a chemist in the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Since 2021, he has supported national security programs at PNNL’s Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, applying expertise in experimental design, synthesis, handling, and transport of highly radioactive and fissile materials. His recent work supports the National Nuclear Security Administration, including efforts in the Nonproliferation Stewardship Program and the Office of Defense Programs, with a focus on nuclear forensics, separations science, and stockpile stewardship. 

Dr. Nicholas primarily conducts research in a Hazard Category II nuclear facility and is a certified fissionable material handler and supervisor for independent radiological glovebox and fume hood operations involving highly radioactive and fissile materials. His experimental portfolio spans the periodic table, including noble metals, lanthanides, heavy metals, and actinides. He employs chemical, spectroscopic, and crystallographic methods to characterize radiological materials, leveraging analytical capabilities such as Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible and infrared spectroscopies, single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, and elemental analysis.

• Actinide chemistry
• Analytical chemistry
• Applied materials science and engineering
• Nuclear forensics
• Inorganic chemistry
• Inorganic materials
• Nuclear stockpile stewardship

• Doctor of Philosophy, chemistry, the University of Maine
• Master of Public Health, public health, American Military University
• Bachelor of Science, chemistry, the University of Maine

2024

• Kinyon, J. S., E. Villa-Aleman, E. Ciprian, A. E. Hixon, B. J. Foley, J. H. Christian, J. R. Darvin, D. D. Dick, A. J. Casella, L. E. Sweet, E. C. Buck, F. D. Heller, A. D. Nicholas, C. A. Nizinski, and R. A. Clark. 2024. “Chemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of Plutonium Tetrafluoride.” Dalt. Trans. 53 (48): 19166–19178.
• Ballenger, J. H., K. S. Giunta, R. Carlson, A. D. Nicholas, L. C. Ducati, M. O. de Brito, M. Zeller, and R. D. Pike. 2024. “Ternary Complexes of BiI3/CuI and SbI3/CuI with Tetrahydrothiophene.” Inorg. Chem. 63 (25): 11688–11699.
• Buck, E. C., D. D. Reilly, L. E. Sweet, A. D. Nicholas, F. D. Heller, G. B. Hall, R. A. Clark, and A. J. Casella. 2024. “Investigation of the Thermal Decomposition of Pu(IV) Oxalate: A Transmission Electron Microscopy Study.” Front. Nucl. Eng. 3: 1380137.
• Herder, J. A., S. J. Kruse, A. D. Nicholas, T. Z. Forbes, E. D. Walter, H. Cho, and C. L. Cahill. 2024. “Systematic Study of Solid-State U(VI) Photoreactivity: Long-Lived Radicalization and Electron Transfer in Uranyl Tetrachloride.” Inorg. Chem. 2024, 63 (11), 4957–4971.
• Kinyon, J. S., E. Villa-Aleman, E. Ciprian, A. E. Hixon, B. J. Foley, J. H. Christian, J. R. Darvin, D. D. Dick, A. J. Casella, L. E. Sweet, E. C. Buck, F. D. Heller, A. D. Nicholas, C. A. Nizinski, and R. A. Clark. 2024. “Chemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of Plutonium Tetrafluoride.” Dalt. Trans. 53 (48): 19166–19178.

2023

• Marwitz, A. C., A. D. Nicholas, R. T. Magar, A. Dutta, J. Swanson, T. Hartman, J. A. Bertke, J. Rack, L. Jacobsohn, and K. Knope. 2023. “Back in Bismuth: Controlling Triplet Energy Transfer, Phosphorescence, and Radioluminescence via Supramolecular Interactions.” J. Mater. Chem. C 11: 14848–14864.
• Arteaga, A., A. D. Nicholas, M. A. Sinnwell, B. K. McNamara, E. C. Buck, and R. G. Surbella. 2023. “Expanding the Transuranic Metal–Organic Framework Portfolio: The Optical Properties of Americium(III) MOF-76.” Inorg. Chem. 62 (51): 21036–21043.
• Arteaga, A., A. D. Nicholas, L. C. Ducati, J. Autschbach, and R. G. Surbella. 2023. “Americium Oxalate: An Experimental and Computational Investigation of Metal–Ligand Bonding.” Inorg. Chem. 62 (12): 4814–4822.

2022

• Nicholas, A. D., L. C. Garman, N. Albano, and C. L. Cahill. 2022. Insight on Noncovalent Interactions and Orbital Constructs in Low-Dimensional Antimony Halide Perovskites. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 24 (25): 15305–15320.

2021

• Byrne, N. M., M. H. Schofield, A. D. Nicholas, and C. L. Cahill. 2021. “Bimetallic Uranyl/Cobalt(ii) Isothiocyanates: Structure, Property and Spectroscopic Analysis of Homo- and Heterometallic Phases.” Dalt. Trans. 50 (26): 9158–9172.
• Nicholas, A. D., B. W. Walusiak, L. C. Garman, M. N. Huda, and C. L. Cahill 2021. “Impact of Noncovalent Interactions on Structural and Photophysical Properties of Zero-Dimensional Tellurium(iv) Perovskites.” J. Mater. Chem. C 9 (9): 3271–3286.