Creating an Iron Understudy
To understand how underground pollutants react with magnetite and other minerals, scientists need an easy-to-use mineral stand-in. An international team led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory created analogous particles with precisely tuned amounts of relatively reactive iron, or Fe(II), and less reactive iron, Fe(III), to match natural conditions. Tuning this Fe(II)/Fe(III) ratio dials in the desired amount of iron reactivity.
Moving Mountains: Electrons Hop through Iron Oxide Minerals in a Type of Semiconduction
Rust—iron oxide—is a poor conductor of electricity, which is why an electronic device with a rusted battery usually won't work. But electrons do move through iron oxide—on seemingly geologic timescales. Now, scientists explain how electrons do this and provide the strongest evidence yet for the leading theory of such movement, a type of semiconduction. Published in Science, the work forms a new foundation for understanding how iron oxide cycles through the earth.
DuBois Receives National Inorganic Chemistry Award
Congratulations to Dr. Daniel DuBois at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on receiving the American Chemical Society's Award in Inorganic Chemistry, a prestigious national honor. DuBois was chosen for his unique approach to designing inorganic molecular complexes to speed reactions. Instead of taking a hit-or-miss approach based on creating and testing endless variations to find the properties needed, he answered the fundamental questions, showing the scientific community "why" these materials behaved as they did, and how to use that knowledge to rationally develop improved catalysts.
The Path a Proton Takes
Meandering along the water-filled highways laced through an alternative membrane for fuel cells, protons visit sulfur and oxygen atom clusters along the way, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The highways are lined with identical hook-shaped molecules. Each channel contains a shell that keeps the water in, formed by the molecules' backbones. The small clusters, known as sulfonate groups, dangle inside the channel. In the middle is a thin "wire" of water.
New Protein Discovered Gives Insights to Iron's Fate Underground
It's almost an evil twin story; a protein that steals electrons from iron in one microbe looks a lot like one that adds electrons in another microbe, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of East Anglia. Their survey of the genes of common groundwater bacterium Sideroxydans lithotrophicus ES-1, which removes electrons from iron, revealed that it contained genes in common with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, which adds electrons to iron.
