Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

About: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a facility organization based out in Richland, Washington, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Aerosol. The organization has 11581 authors who have published 27934 publications receiving 1120489 citations. The organization is also known as: PNL & PNNL.

Electrochemical sensor for organophosphate pesticides and nerve agents using zirconia nanoparticles as selective sorbents.

Abstract: An electrochemical sensor for detection of organophosphate (OP) pesticides and nerve agents using zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles as selective sorbents is presented. Zirconia nanoparticles were electrodynamically deposited onto the polycrystalline gold electrode by cyclic voltammetry. Because of the strong affinity of zirconia for the phosphoric group, nitroaromatic OPs strongly bind to the ZrO2 nanoparticle surface. The electrochemical characterization and anodic stripping voltammetric performance of bound OPs were evaluated using cyclic voltammetric and square-wave voltammetric (SWV) analysis. SWV was used to monitor the amount of bound OPs and provide simple, fast, and facile quantitative methods for nitroaromatic OP compounds. The sensor surface can be regenerated by successively running SWV scanning. Operational parameters, including the amount of nanoparticles, adsorption time, and pH of the reaction medium have been optimized. The stripping voltammetric response is highly linear over the 5−100 ng/mL ...

Polymer–Graphene Nanocomposites as Ultrafast-Charge and -Discharge Cathodes for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Abstract: Electroactive polymers are a new generation of "green" cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries. We have developed nanocomposites combining graphene with two promising polymer cathode materials, poly(anthraquinonyl sulfide) and polyimide, to improve their high-rate performance. The polymer-graphene nanocomposites were synthesized through a simple in situ polymerization in the presence of graphene sheets. The highly dispersed graphene sheets in the nanocomposite drastically enhanced the electronic conductivity and allowed the electrochemical activity of the polymer cathode to be efficiently utilized. This allows for ultrafast charging and discharging; the composite can deliver more than 100 mAh/g within just a few seconds.

Anode-Free Rechargeable Lithium Metal Batteries

Abstract: Anode-free rechargeable lithium (Li) batteries (AFLBs) are phenomenal energy storage systems due to their significantly increased energy density and reduced cost relative to Li-ion batteries, as well as ease of assembly because of the absence of an active (reactive) anode material. However, significant challenges, including Li dendrite growth and low cycling Coulombic efficiency (CE), have prevented their practical implementation. Here, an anode-free rechargeable lithium battery based on a Cu||LiFePO4 cell structure with an extremely high CE (>99.8%) is reported for the first time. This results from the utilization of both an exceptionally stable electrolyte and optimized charge/discharge protocols, which minimize the corrosion of the in situly formed Li metal anode.

Metal-organic framework with optimally selective xenon adsorption and separation.

Abstract: Nuclear energy is among the most viable alternatives to our current fossil fuel-based energy economy. The mass deployment of nuclear energy as a low-emissions source requires the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel to recover fissile materials and mitigate radioactive waste. A major concern with reprocessing used nuclear fuel is the release of volatile radionuclides such as xenon and krypton that evolve into reprocessing facility off-gas in parts per million concentrations. The existing technology to remove these radioactive noble gases is a costly cryogenic distillation; alternatively, porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks have demonstrated the ability to selectively adsorb xenon and krypton at ambient conditions. Here we carry out a high-throughput computational screening of large databases of metal-organic frameworks and identify SBMOF-1 as the most selective for xenon. We affirm this prediction and report that SBMOF-1 exhibits by far the highest reported xenon adsorption capacity and a remarkable Xe/Kr selectivity under conditions pertinent to nuclear fuel reprocessing.