Newswise — Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT, President Young-Kuk Lee) announced that it has officially launched a research equipment training program for Uzbekistan researchers under a grant aid project supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The opening ceremony was held on February 23 at KRICT’s Didimdol Plaza, marking the start of the full-scale capacity-building program.

The ceremony formally introduced the “Research Equipment Invitational Training” program, a core component of the “Establishment and Capacity-Building Project of The Center of Chemical Technology in Uzbekistan.” Approximately 30 participants attended the event, including representatives from KRICT and KOICA project members, as well as Uzbek researchers in the field of chemistry. Participants shared the background and operational plans of the program and reaffirmed their commitment to close cooperation for its successful implementation.

The training program is a key human resource development initiative under the same capacity-building project. From February 22 to May 22, 2026, a total of 20 Uzbek researchers in the chemical field will participate in an intensive three-month training program in Korea.

The program aims to systematically cultivate core professionals with expertise in research equipment operation and analytical capabilities, enabling the future Uzbekistan Chemical Research Institute—The Center of Chemical Technology in Uzbekistan (UzCCT), currently being established by the Uzbek government—to operate independently and sustainably.

This project follows up on a request agreed upon by the leaders of Korea and Uzbekistan during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Korea in November 2017 to establish a chemical R&D center in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government officially requested support for setting up a national chemical research institute modeled after Korea’s government-funded research institutes. In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT and KOICA have collaborated to advance this initiative.

Notably, this is the first blended financing project in Korea’s science and technology diplomacy history, combining concessional loans from the Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) with KOICA’s grant aid. The total project budget amounts to USD 47 million. Of this, USD 40 million in loans will support construction and equipment installation, while USD 7 million in grant funding will be allocated to master planning, human resource development, and joint research activities.

At the opening ceremony, officials underscored that this training program — backed by KOICA’s grant aid — extends well beyond technical instruction. It represents a strategic human resource development initiative aimed at strengthening UzCCT’s independent operational capacity and advancing its research and development capabilities.

The training curriculum integrates theoretical instruction with hands-on practice. It focuses on understanding equipment principles, field application in research environments, data interpretation, and ensuring the reliability of analytical results. Through this practice-oriented approach, participants will be equipped to independently operate research equipment and conduct analytical work at UzCCT upon completion of the program.

The invitational training program is regarded as a sustainable model for strengthening human capacity through KOICA’s grant assistance. It is expected to provide a foundation for UzCCT not only to enhance Uzbekistan’s chemical industry competitiveness but also to grow into a regional hub for chemical and materials R&D cooperation in Central Asia.

KRICT President Young-Kuk Lee stated, “This opening ceremony marks a starting point for Uzbekistan to build self-reliant chemical R&D capabilities through KOICA’s grant aid. Even after the training concludes, we will continue to expand bilateral cooperation through joint research and follow-up human resource development programs.”

###

KRICT is a non-profit research institute funded by the Korean government. Since its foundation in 1976, KRICT has played a leading role in advancing national chemical technologies in the fields of chemistry, material science, environmental science, and chemical engineering. Now, KRICT is moving forward to become a globally leading research institute tackling the most challenging issues in the field of Chemistry and Engineering and will continue to fulfill its role in developing chemical technologies that benefit the entire world and contribute to maintaining a healthy planet. More detailed information on KRICT can be found at

Newswise — As the global demand for electric vehicles and portable electronics surges, high-energy-density and inherently safe energy storage systems has become more important than ever. However, while solid-state lithium batteries (SSLBs) offer high safety due to their non-flammability, traditional solid electrolytes face significant bottlenecks, including low ionic conductivity, poor interfacial contact, and mechanical brittleness.

In a review published in Supramolecular Materials, a team of researchers from China highlight a new approach: using supramolecular chemistry to engineer “smart” battery components. The study provides a molecular engineering foundation for realizing practical, high-efficiency, and safe next-generation batteries.

“Unlike traditional materials that rely on rigid covalent bonds, supramolecular materials utilize reversible non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding, and π-π stacking to create highly ordered, self-assembled structures,” explains senior and corresponding author Kai Liu.

Notably, supramolecular chemistry provides a programmable molecular-level design framework for solid-state batteries. “These dynamic interactions act as a ‘smart glue,’ allowing electrolytes to self-heal microcracks and adapt to the volume changes of electrodes during cycling,” adds Liu. “This flexibility is crucial for suppressing lithium dendrite growth, which often leads to short circuits in conventional designs.”

The researchers also detailed how these molecular interactions build efficient ion transport pathways, lowering energy barriers and improving the battery’s rate performance. “By precisely regulating the interfacial composition, supramolecular strategies significantly reduce impedance and enhance long-term cycling stability,” says Liu.

###

References

DOI

10.1016/j.supmat.2025.100118

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supmat.2025.100118

Funding Information

This research was supported by the Tsinghua University-China Petrochemical Corporation Joint Institute for Green Chemical Engineering (224247) and the Tsinghua-Toyota Joint Research Fund.

About Supramolecular Materials

Supramolecular Materials is a publication of peer-reviewed research. It covers all aspects of these materials, which are based on supramolecular interactions or self-assembly.

Newswise — As global demand for clothing continues to rise, the textile and apparel industry has become a significant contributor to climate change. In China, the world’s largest textile producer and exporter, rapid urbanization, income growth, and shifting consumption patterns have driven a surge in apparel demand. Traditional studies often focus on factory-level energy use, overlooking emissions embedded in supply chains, exports, and household consumption. This fragmented perspective limits the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. Moreover, fast fashion and short garment lifespans exacerbate resource use and waste. Based on these challenges, there is an urgent need to conduct in-depth research that captures the full carbon footprint of the textile industry and identifies scalable pathways for emission reduction.

Researchers from Nanjing University, in collaboration with international partners, reported (DOI: 10.1007/s11783-026-2109-9) on January 9, 2026, in Engineering Environment a comprehensive analysis of carbon emissions in China’s textile and apparel industry. Using national household consumption data and supply-chain input–output modeling, the team examined emission trends from 2000 to 2018 and projected future mitigation scenarios through 2035. Their study reveals how production, consumption, and exports jointly shape the sector’s carbon footprint and highlights practical strategies—particularly renewable energy and clothing recycling—to curb emissions while supporting sustainable industrial development.

The analysis shows that demand-side forces dominate carbon emissions in China’s textile industry. Household consumption and exports together account for roughly 85% of total emissions growth, far outweighing the contribution from direct energy use in factories. Urban households, in particular, generate more than four times the carbon emissions of rural households due to higher clothing consumption, underscoring the climate impact of lifestyle changes.

By constructing detailed carbon flow diagrams, the study identifies wet processing, electricity use, and long, fragmented supply chains as major emission hotspots. While electrification has reduced emissions from fossil fuels, carbon embodied in upstream sectors—such as chemicals, transportation, and logistics—continues to rise.

To explore mitigation pathways, the researchers modeled five future scenarios. Energy-saving technologies alone delivered limited reductions, while large-scale renewable energy adoption significantly lowered emissions by reducing carbon intensity across the entire supply chain. Clothing recycling emerged as another powerful lever, as extending garment lifespans directly reduces the need for new production. Most notably, a combined strategy integrating renewable energy and recycling could reduce total emissions by nearly 10% compared with a business-as-usual trajectory, effectively flattening long-term emission growth.

“This study shows that decarbonizing the textile industry is not just a technological challenge, but also a consumption challenge,” said the study’s corresponding author. “Focusing only on factories misses the bigger picture. Our results demonstrate that household demand, urban lifestyles, and export-oriented production play decisive roles in driving emissions. By aligning clean energy transitions with circular economy strategies—especially clothing recycling—we can achieve meaningful emission reductions without sacrificing economic vitality. These insights provide a scientific foundation for designing more effective and balanced climate policies.”

The findings have important implications for policymakers, industry leaders, and consumers. For governments, the study highlights the need to integrate demand-side measures—such as promoting clothing reuse and recycling—into climate strategies for the textile sector. For industry, it underscores the value of transitioning to renewable energy while redesigning supply chains to be shorter and more efficient. For consumers, the research quantifies how everyday clothing choices contribute to carbon emissions, reinforcing the climate benefits of longer garment lifespans. Together, these pathways suggest that a shift toward greener production and more responsible consumption can transform textiles from a climate liability into a key contributor to a low-carbon future.

###

References

DOI

10.1007/s11783-026-2109-9

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-026-2109-9

Funding information

The study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 72304136, 72234003, and 72488101).

About Engineering Environment

Engineering Environment is the leading edge forum for peer-reviewed original submissions in English on all main branches of environmental disciplines. FESE welcomes original research papers, review articles, short communications, and views & comments. All the papers will be published within 6 months after they are submitted. The Editors-in-Chief are Academician Jiuhui Qu from Tsinghua University, and Prof. John C. Crittenden from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. The journal has been indexed by almost all the authoritative databases such as SCI, EI, INSPEC, SCOPUS, CSCD, etc.

Newswise — One of the United States’ most urgent challenges is securing a reliable domestic supply of critical materials and minerals essential for technologies like smartphones, satellites, computer chips, rechargeable batteries and advanced weapons systems.

Although the U.S. has deposits of nearly all critical materials, domestic mining is unable to meet demand, which is expected to grow over the next decade. Most extraction and processing occurs outside the country, particularly in China. This reliance on foreign processing can lead to disruptions that affect national security, economic growth and technological advancement.

“Critical materials and metals are crucial to our daily lives,” said Travis McLing, a subsurface research scientist at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). “However, we depend heavily on foreign entities, jeopardizing our technological leadership and national security. The supply chain needs to be connected and sourced in the U.S. It isn’t enough to mine materials here. We must also produce and refine them domestically. Our goal is to create a resilient supply chain from rock to final product.”

INL is collaborating with eight national labs and nearly 30 companies to develop technologies and processes that enhance domestic critical material mining and production. The short-term goal is to advance cost-effective, low-waste processing technologies that can be rapidly deployed. The long-term goal is to better understand critical material sources, intermediate states, separation processes and final products to reduce reliance on foreign mining.

“Our aim is to increase the recovery of minerals from both conventional and unconventional sources,” said Aaron Wilson, a chemical scientist at INL. “We want to help industry maximize recovery while minimizing waste and protect American workers and the environment.”

Mining and ore processing

After extraction, rocks undergo beneficiation, a process of crushing and grinding to separate desired materials from waste. These materials are then concentrated for easier transport and treated with heat or chemicals to fully extract and purify them. However, modern processing isn’t always sufficient and often produces significant waste.

“If you look at a copper mine, for example, mine ore only contains about 0.2% copper on the high end,” said McLing. “That means they have to process and throw away 99.8% of the rock to get the 0.2% they want.”

That waste may not be worthless. According to McLing, most processing facilities are designed to extract only one or two materials. Anything of value that requires a different extraction process is often lost or discarded. Building additional processing facilities at mines or sending the materials to other processing facilities might reduce waste and bolster domestic supplies of critical materials.

Compounding the challenge is the diversity of rock types that host critical minerals. Alkaline intrusive rocks, pegmatites and hydrothermally altered rocks are known for containing significant concentrations of critical materials. Each must be processed differently based on its characteristics.

Alkaline-intrusive rocks form when magma cools slowly underground and are rich in alkali metals like sodium and potassium. Pegmatites are igneous rocks with large crystals that often contain lithium and beryllium. Hydrothermally altered rocks have been changed by hot, mineral-rich fluids under high pressure, concentrating metals and minerals that are otherwise difficult to access.

Getting industry to invest in new technologies and processes can be difficult, especially since mining lacks the research capabilities of other resource sectors like oil and gas.

“There are challenges in engaging industry effectively,” said McLing. “But INL is well suited to work with mining companies to make the entire process, from mining to production, more economical and efficient.”

To improve efficiency and safety, INL is pioneering innovative technologies and processes that optimize mining, from extraction to final processing.

Innovations in mining and processing

INL is developing digital tools and robots to characterize ores, manage mining resources and process critical materials. Digital tools use remote sensing, autonomous mining equipment, digital twins and other computational technologies to improve efficiency. INL’s robotics research is advancing systems and sensors that can more effectively separate, process and recover materials.

Another area of focus is critical material extraction. INL is developing advanced analytical instruments capable of detecting and quantifying trace amounts of critical materials in natural water, mine tailings, recycled materials and other sources.

Mineral processing separates valuable materials from waste. Advanced separation techniques further isolate and purify critical materials, ensuring the high purity required for use in consumer electronics, competitive energy systems and national defense.

INL is also advancing a method called leaching, which uses a liquid, usually an acid or base, to separate critical materials from ores, batteries or electronic waste.

Impacts

“INL researchers are inventing the next generation of mining technology,” Wilson said. “Our work will minimize waste, enhance safety and increase recovery rates. We are experienced thought leaders creating the technologies the industry needs.”

INL’s innovative technologies are crucial for securing a reliable domestic supply of critical materials. By tackling mining and ore processing challenges, INL is enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of operations and supporting U.S. economic growth and national security. As these technologies evolve, they will help build a resilient supply chain that underpins America’s technological leadership.

“Critical material extraction is this generation’s moonshot,” said McLing. “We need to solve our supply chain in the next five to seven years. That’s a policy and technical solution to create a friendly supply chain that works for everyone.”

Newswise — As renewable energy deployment accelerates worldwide, large-scale energy storage technologies must become more affordable, safer, and resource-efficient. Sodium-ion batteries stand out because sodium is abundant and inexpensive, yet their commercialization is hindered by the lack of high-performance anode materials. Hard carbon is widely regarded as the most promising anode candidate, but its performance strongly depends on poorly controlled internal pores and defect structures. Excessive open pores often trigger electrolyte decomposition, unstable interfacial layers, and severe initial capacity loss. Based on these challenges, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on how molecular-level precursor design and interfacial regulation can jointly enhance hard carbon anodes.

Researchers from Jiangxi Normal University and Gannan Normal University report a new strategy to stabilize hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries, published (DOI: 10.1007/s10118-025-3461-0) online on November 19, 2025, in Chinese Journal of Polymer Science. The study introduces intramolecular heteroatom doping within polymer precursors, followed by controlled chemical presodiation, to engineer closed-pore structures and robust interfacial layers. This synergistic design significantly improves reversible capacity, initial Coulombic efficiency, and long-term cycling stability, addressing key bottlenecks that have constrained sodium-ion battery development.

The research begins by designing polymer precursors with specific functional groups—such as sulfonyl, ether, and carbonyl units—embedded directly within aromatic backbones. During carbonization, these intramolecular dopants decompose in a controlled manner, generating abundant closed nanopores while avoiding excessive surface area. Structural analyses, including X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering, reveal that the optimized hard carbon contains a high volume of closed pores that favor low-voltage sodium storage.

Electrochemical tests demonstrate that the optimized material delivers a reversible capacity of 307.9 mAh g⁻¹, with strong rate capability and minimal structural degradation. However, the researchers identified that irreversible sodium loss during initial cycling still limited practical efficiency. To address this, a brief chemical presodiation step was introduced, supplying sodium in advance and pre-forming a stable interfacial layer. As a result, the initial Coulombic efficiency increased dramatically to 94.4%.

Long-term tests further show that the presodiated hard carbon retains 93.6% of its capacity after 3,000 charge–discharge cycles. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses confirm the formation of a thin, dense, and sodium-fluoride-rich interphase, which enhances ion transport while suppressing electrolyte decomposition.

“This work shows that the performance limits of hard carbon are not fixed but can be fundamentally reshaped through molecular design,” said one of the study’s corresponding authors. “By controlling how heteroatoms are incorporated within polymer precursors, we can regulate pore formation from the inside out. When combined with presodiation, this strategy not only boosts efficiency but also stabilizes the electrode–electrolyte interface over thousands of cycles. The results suggest a scalable and versatile route for building next-generation sodium-ion battery anodes.”

The findings offer important implications for the future of large-scale energy storage, particularly in grid applications where cost, safety, and durability are critical. The molecular-level engineering strategy demonstrated in this study can be extended to other polymer-derived carbons and potentially adapted for potassium-ion or multivalent battery systems. By simultaneously improving capacity, efficiency, and lifespan, the approach brings sodium-ion batteries closer to commercial viability. More broadly, the work highlights how precursor chemistry and interfacial control can be integrated to overcome long-standing materials challenges in electrochemical energy storage.

###

References

DOI

10.1007/s10118-025-3461-0

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-025-3461-0

Funding information

This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52403263), Technology Research Project of Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education (No. GJJ2200385), and Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 20244BCE52213, 20242BAB23031 and 20232BAB204006).

About Chinese Journal of Polymer Science

Chinese Journal of Polymer Science is a monthly journal published in English and sponsored by the Chinese Chemical Society and the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. CJPS is edited by a distinguished Editorial Board headed by Professor Qi-Feng Zhou and supported by an International Advisory Board in which many famous active polymer scientists all over the world are included. Manuscript types include Editorials, Rapid Communications, Perspectives, Tutorials, Feature Articles, Reviews and Research Articles. According to the Journal Citation Reports, 2024 Impact Factor (IF) of CJPS is 4.0.

Newswise — Billy Hudson, PhD, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Matrix Biology and the Elliott V. Newman Professor of Medicine, is receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2026, following a unanimous decision by Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) Chairman Nasser J. Kazeminy and the EIHS Board of Directors.

A native of rural Grapevine, Arkansas, Hudson joins the ranks of several U.S. presidents, Nobel laureates and influential leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and country music singer Glen Campbell, as people from Arkansas to receive the honor. Naji Abumrad, MD, a 2004 medalist, is also a Vanderbilt recipient.

Hudson was nominated by 2022 medalist Igor Babailov, Hon.RAA, KStA, the world-renowned portrait artist who has been affiliated with the Hudson family and the Aspirnaut STEM Pipeline, founded to increase opportunities in science for talented youth from rural and diverse backgrounds, for more than a decade.

EIHS Chairman Kazeminy said Hudson was selected in recognition of his pioneering contributions to matrix biology and transformative discoveries in type IV collagen research, which have fundamentally advanced the understanding of kidney disease, including Alport syndrome, Goodpasture’s disease and diabetic kidney disease.

His decades of scientific leadership, groundbreaking structural insights into basement membrane biology, and successful translation of research into therapeutic innovation have shaped modern biomedical science, Kazeminy said. Equally inspiring was Hudson’s dedication to expanding opportunity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through initiatives such as the Aspirnaut STEM Pipeline, reflecting a commitment not only to discovery, but to developing the next generation of scientific leaders.

“Dr. Hudson’s personal and professional journey serves an inspiration to many. Selection for this prestigious honor is fitting given his substantial contributions to the field of science and for the numerous young lives he and his wife, Julie, continue to impact through the Aspirnaut program. I want to offer my sincere congratulations to Billy for achieving this distinguished award,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Hudson is accepting the award on behalf of his wife, Julie Hudson, MD, brother Johnny Hudson and sister Ann Kincl, who are co-founders of the Aspirnaut STEM Pipeline; his 13 high school classmates who helped implement the pipeline; and the nearly 400 high school and undergraduate students who have participated in the pipeline over the past two decades.

“I am so very excited and humbled to be selected for the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. My journey from poverty and childhood abuse, which led to me dropping out of high school, to becoming a scientist, and now a medalist, is like being in ‘The Twilight Zone,’ where an ordinary person encounters extraordinary circumstances,” Hudson said.

“My mentors provided educational opportunities that enabled me to overcome my childhood challenges and establish the Aspirnaut Pipeline to help youth achieve their dreams. Education fuels hope and opportunity for a better tomorrow for all people, especially those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds,” he said.

Founded in 1986 by EIHS, the honor is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated “outstanding commitment to serving our nation either professionally, culturally or civically” and “reflect a proud commitment to our nation’s ideals of diversity, opportunity and service,” according to the organization.

“Dr. Hudson’s selection is a testament to a lifetime devoted to excellence, integrity and meaningful impact. His pioneering contributions and steadfast commitment to advancing knowledge embody the very spirit of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor,” EIHS Chairman Kazeminy said. “We are proud to celebrate his accomplishments and extend our heartfelt congratulations on this well-deserved recognition,” he said.

EIHS has honored distinguished and diverse Americans including eight U.S. presidents; Nobel laureates Elie Wiesel and Malala Yousufzai; Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell; Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton; Bob Hope; Muhammad Ali; Frank Sinatra; Rosa Parks; Mike Wallace; and Rita Moreno.

The 2025 medalists included Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden; Pfizer Chairman and CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla; Co-Founder of Moderna, Robert Langer; and Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist, Steven Chu.

The Ellis Island Medals of Honor ranks among the nation’s most renowned awards, officially recognized by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, with each year’s recipients listed in the Congressional Record.

A total of 94 Americans will be honored in 2026 for their contributions in philanthropy, humanitarian advocacy, technological and medical innovation, and professional achievements.

From visionaries in the business and scientific fields, and members of the local, state and federal government, to philanthropists and influencers in the entertainment and sports industry, each medalist has embraced their personal immigrant history and recognizes the role that uniquely American opportunities played in helping them reach their goals.

“These individuals stand as beacons of resilience, embodying the timeless values of courage, compassion and dedication,” Kazeminy said. “Their diverse backgrounds and remarkable accomplishments serve as a testament to the power of unity and the boundless potential of the human spirit. As we recognize their indelible contributions, let us reaffirm our commitment to fostering inclusivity, understanding and goodwill across all borders.”

The full list of this year’s recipients will be announced in early March, and the medal ceremony will take place Saturday, May 16, during a black-tie gala held in Ellis Island’s Great Hall, which served as the gateway for 12 million immigrants to the U.S.

EIHS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which, in addition to presenting the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, is a humanitarian organization supporting educational opportunities for students with immigrant heritage and preserving the Ellis Island National Monument.

For more details on the event and a complete list of honorees, please visit EIHS official site.

Many disease-causing bacteria — including pathogens that can cause cholera, meningitis, and certain types of pneumonia — contain an enzyme called Na⁺-NQR. The enzyme is essentially a pump that helps bacteria generate energy by moving sodium ions across their cell membranes while transferring electrons.  

Crucially, the enzyme is present in many types of harmful bacteria but not in the cells of humans and other animals, making it an ideal target for future antibiotics. But to disrupt the enzyme’s functions, scientists need to understand how, exactly, it works. An international team of researchers, including RPI postdoctoral fellow Moe Ishikawa-Fukuda, Ph.D., and Biological Sciences Professor Blanca Barquera, Ph.D., recently took a major stride in that direction with the publication of a new paper in Nature Communications. 

In the paper, Barquera and her colleagues used cryo-electron microscopy and computer simulations to capture “snapshots” of Na⁺-NQR in different stages of action. By studying mutant versions of the enzyme, adding specific chemical inhibitors, and removing sodium from the solution, they effectively “froze” its molecular machinery at various points in its operation. 

They found that the enzyme changes its physical configuration as it works, and identified at least five different structural configurations corresponding to different states in the bacterial energy cycle. 

“Na⁺-NQR has long been a bit of a puzzle for researchers, because certain parts of the enzyme appeared to be too far apart to facilitate the electron transfer that’s critical for bacterial respiration,” Barquera said. “With this work, we have documented how the enzyme reconfigures itself to make electron transfer possible.” 

This mechanism is fundamentally different from how cellular respiration works in humans and other animals, meaning that Na⁺-NQR is an ideal target for future antibiotics.  

“Knowing how the enzyme works is key to disrupting its action,” Barquera said. In future studies, the team will explore whether the structural states they identified can be targeted to effectively shut down the enzymatic pump.  

Newswise — Two researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have been named recipients of 2025 Early Career Research Program awards from the DOE Office of Science. David Kaphan and Yong Zhao will each receive $550,000 per year for five years to further their research.

This DOE Office of Science program seeks to strengthen the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to outstanding researchers early in their careers, when many scientists make formative contributions. Awardees were selected from a large pool of applicants from universities and national labs based on peer review by scientific experts.

David Kaphan is a chemist in Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering division. His research focuses on designing a new generation of catalysts — materials that speed up chemical reactions — for chemical transformations to overcome key kinetic limitations of today’s catalysts. His project aims to explore the potential of electric field-responsive oxides, such as ferroelectrics, to actively control the surface-level electronic characteristics of catalytic active sites. This approach could enable the development of catalysts that adapt during chemical transformations, optimizing reactivity for different phases of chemical synthesis processes.

Kaphan’s project will study the complex role that external electric fields can play in the modulation of electronic surface properties during catalytic processes. He will use X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques and other methods at the Advanced Photon Source and the Center for Nanoscale Materials — both DOE Office of Science user facilities at Argonne — to measure properties such as field responsive surface electron density and catalytic reactivity. Additionally, the project will integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate the exploration of reaction parameters and electric field conditions. This work has the potential to revolutionize catalyst design for critical processes such as selective methane oxidation and ammonia synthesis.

“Stimulus-responsive, nonequilibrium catalysis represents an exciting opportunity to overcome the classical limitations of static processes and increase efficiency in chemical transformations,” said Kaphan. ​“This support will allow us to explore new frontiers in field-responsive dynamic catalyst design and develop new solutions to address key challenges in energy-related chemistry.”

Yong Zhao is an assistant physicist in the Physics division. His research seeks to address one of the most fundamental questions in nuclear physics: understanding the internal structure of protons and neutrons. These are key objectives of multidimensional proton imaging efforts at DOE’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and the forthcoming Electron-Ion Collider at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Both protons and neutrons consist of different combinations of quarks and gluons. Zhao plans to develop a new theoretical approach and use lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) for precise calculations of the underlying multidimensional quark and gluon structures. This approach will enable high-precision imaging of the proton, as well as reveal the contributions of quark and gluon spin and orbital angular momentum to the proton’s spin.

Using the Aurora and Polaris supercomputers at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility, Zhao’s project aims to reduce systematic uncertainties and improve numerical precision in proton and neutron structural studies. Its insights will provide crucial theoretical guidance for experiments at Jefferson Lab, Brookhaven and other facilities.

“This award is a tremendous opportunity to push the boundaries of our understanding of the strong force and the fundamental building blocks of matter,” said Zhao. ​“I am grateful for the support that will allow us to make significant strides in this area of research.”

“David and Yong exemplify the innovative spirit and scientific excellence that are hallmarks of Argonne’s research community,” said Kawtar Hafidi, associate laboratory director for Argonne’s Physical Sciences and Engineering directorate. ​“Their groundbreaking work has the potential to transform our understanding of fundamental processes in physics and address key challenges in research and development. I look forward to seeing the impact of their efforts in the years to come.”

About Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials

The Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE’s Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit https://​sci​ence​.osti​.gov/​U​s​e​r​-​F​a​c​i​l​i​t​i​e​s​/​U​s​e​r​-​F​a​c​i​l​i​t​i​e​s​-​a​t​-​a​-​G​lance.

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility provides supercomputing capabilities to the scientific and engineering community to advance fundamental discovery and understanding in a broad range of disciplines. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, the ALCF is one of two DOE Leadership Computing Facilities in the nation dedicated to open science.

About the Advanced Photon Source

The U. S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is one of the world’s most productive X-ray light source facilities. The APS provides high-brightness X-ray beams to a diverse community of researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. These X-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nation’s economic, technological, and physical well-being. Each year, more than 5,000 researchers use the APS to produce over 2,000 publications detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other X-ray light source research facility. APS scientists and engineers innovate technology that is at the heart of advancing accelerator and light-source operations. This includes the insertion devices that produce extreme-brightness X-rays prized by researchers, lenses that focus the X-rays down to a few nanometers, instrumentation that maximizes the way the X-rays interact with samples being studied, and software that gathers and manages the massive quantity of data resulting from discovery research at the APS.

This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://​ener​gy​.gov/​s​c​ience.

Robert Nelson and Christopher Reddy recognized for pioneering use of GCxGC to track and understand marine pollution

Newswise — Woods Hole, Mass. (February 20, 2026) — Two chemical oceanographers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are being awarded the 2026 Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award by the International Symposium on Comprehensive Multidimensional Chromatography.

Robert Nelson and Christopher Reddy, both in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, are being recognized for more than 15 years of continuous, high-impact contributions in the field of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, commonly known as GCxGC

GCxGC is an advanced analytical technique that separates and identifies highly complex mixtures of chemicals with exceptional detail.

With more than 60 years of combined experience, Nelson and Reddy have pioneered the use of this method to analyze pollutants in the ocean, revolutionizing the field of oil-spill forensics. Their work has advanced scientific understanding and informed response strategies for some of the most significant oil spills in recent history, including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, as well as spills in San Francisco, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, and California, and internationally in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Korea, and Japan.

“As an oceanographer, I am particularly proud that this award is selected by, and presented to, analytical chemists—a field dedicated to advancing how chemicals are measured,” Reddy said. “It is a tremendous honor to have our work recognized by this community.”

“What is especially meaningful to me is that Chris and I worked so closely together—often on site collecting samples on boats and beaches, analyzing them, and writing about the results,” Nelson added. “This award reflects not just our technical work, but a long-term partnership forged in the field and in the lab.”

The Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award for GCxGC Research is one of the highest honors bestowed by the GCxGC community, recognizing sustained innovation and impact in analytical chemistry and separation science. Nelson and Reddy will receive the award at the 44th International Symposium on Capillary Chromatography & 21st GCxGC Symposium in Riva del Garda, Italy, this spring.

About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate an understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. Top scientists, engineers, and students collaborate on more than 800 concurrent projects worldwide—both above and below the waves—pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility.

Newswise — RICHLAND, Wash.—The Department of Energy granted early career awards to six researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory—a record number of recipients for PNNL in a single year. The prestigious award is designated for outstanding scientists early in their research careers. It delivers generous support—$2,750,000 for each of the 2025 recipients over a period of five years—allowing researchers to delve into questions that are key to DOE missions. 

“This is the first time six PNNL researchers have received Early Career Research Awards in the same year. This recognition is a testament to their promising research and the impact they stand to make in a variety of fields over the course of their careers,” said Deb Gracio, PNNL director.

PNNL recipients of the awards include chemist Richard Cox, chemical engineer Josh Elmore, computational scientist Hadi Dinpajooh, materials scientist Le Wang, and Earth scientists Avni Malhotra and Nick Ward. Their work focuses on basic science, ranging in focus from the chemistry of heavy elements like plutonium and uranium to plant and microbiological processes that could boost the development of the U.S. bioeconomy. The awards are given to scientists at DOE national laboratories, Office of Science user facilities and U.S. academic institutions. 

“The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is dedicated to supporting these promising investigators, and the Early Career Research Program provides an incredible opportunity,” said Harriet Kung, DOE’s Deputy Director of Science Programs for the Office of Science. “These awards allow them to pursue new ideas and harness the resources of the user facilities to increase the potential for breakthrough new discoveries.” 

For some, like Malhotra, the funding presents a rare opportunity to lead a new research program. “It’s an incredible opportunity to build a program from scratch that can lead to long-term discoveries and new research capabilities,” said Malhotra. Her work will shed light on biological processes that occur in soil near plant roots, which are difficult to capture and have long gone understudied. 

Similarly, Nick Ward’s research could uncover important details about a large, lingering question in the Earth science community: just how much methane and nitrous oxide could flow into or out of the world’s trees, and how might the scientific community better capture the process of forest-based trace gas exchange in their models?

For other recipients, like Wang, the funding makes possible new investigations within an established research team. Wang’s work flows out of the lab’s research in thin oxide films: materials that are an essential component of many modern electronics. Scientists like Wang grow these films in extremely thin layers, atom by atom, and study them to glean details about materials that can give rise to new, promising energy and information-processing technologies. 

“I’ve proposed to focus on a new material system known as high-entropy oxides,” said Wang. “Exploring how these multicomponent materials behave at the atomic level could bring about new functional properties,” he added. 

Dinpajooh’s work developing new AI methodologies could accelerate discovery in basic energy sciences by helping researchers better understand chemical and physical processes in electrolyte solutions. Electrolyte solutions are central to energy storage technologies, separation of critical materials, and many other applications. These AI-enabled approaches could improve prediction of key phenomena such as speciation, nucleation, and electron transfer—helping scientists tailor electrolyte performance and guide the design of next-generation materials and processes.

Other funded work, like Elmore’s research on bacterial bioproduction, could ultimately harness the power of microorganisms to produce valuable chemicals. But before those chemicals and other critical materials can be produced, researchers must work toward a predictive understanding of how microbes regulate energy use. 

By exploring how certain proteins are modified within bacterial cells, Elmore’s research could help to realize that understanding. The proposed work builds upon the project he led within PNNL’s Predictive Phenomics Initiative, which focuses largely on unraveling the mysteries of molecular function in complex biological systems.

Much of the work from this year’s recipients could deliver wide-ranging implications in diverse fields—Cox’s research into nuclear chemistry being a prime example. Cox plans to study the basic chemical behavior of a subset of heavy elements known as actinides. With key roles in nuclear energy, environmental cleanup, energy storage, and even nuclear non-proliferation, a better understanding of why actinides behave the way they do could benefit many. 

“It takes a special place like PNNL that has the access and the ability to handle these unique elements safely,” said Cox, who has pursued this line of research for roughly half a decade. “It was very exciting to find out that my proposed research was chosen, and I’m even more excited to venture out into a new scientific direction,” he added.

###

About PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle and supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the DOE Office of Science website. For more information on PNNL, visit PNNL’s News Center. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.