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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Methane Pyrolysis for CO2-free H2 and Carbon Nanomaterials - CRADA 576 (Final Report)

In this CRADA project we continued to develop the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) patent-pending Regenerable Catalytic Pyrolysis (ReCaP) process technology for producing CO 2 -free hydrogen (H 2 ) from inexpensive and domestically-abundant natural gas (NG), while simultaneously reducing H 2 ’s net production cost to $\$$1.0/kg through the sale of valuable crystalline solid carbon co-product. Producing clean hydrogen at this price is a DOE Hydrogen Energy Earthshot goal. This effort builds on our prior catalyst and processing advances made thermocatalytic decomposition of methane (TCD). The additional scope performed here accelerated the commercial deployment of TCD for CO 2 -free H 2 and valuable solid carbon nanotubes (CNT) co-product, by i) scaling up the production of CNT co-product using a fluidized bed reactor (25 g catalyst scale versus the 1 g catalyst scale demonstrated prior), ii) producing approximately 1 kg of CNT byproduct, produced via multiple cycles of TCD, carbon-catalyst separation, and catalyst re-synthesis, to enable the production of sufficient quantities of solid carbon so as to explore its market potential, iii) understanding the quality of the co-product CNTs, produced at larger scale, using advanced characterization, and iv) beginning to explore multiple promising high volume carbon product applications (e.g., aluminum and polymer composites, steel additive, and cement reinforcement applications). We are in discussions with Department of Energy and potential commercial partners to continue funding of this effort with the goal to facilitate eventual commercial deployment.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Probing Ultrafast Charge Transfer Dynamics in Heterostructured Nanomaterials

The increasing demand for renewable and low‐cost energy has triggered a vast amount of research aimed at developing, characterizing and optimizing materials that can efficiently convert sun light into useful chemical energy in the form of electricity or chemical fuels. So‐ called quantum dot sensitized solar cell (QDSC) materials have gained much attention in recent years based on the advantageous physicochemical properties of semiconducting quantum dots (QDs) as sensitizers, as well as their promising potential to increase the conversion efficiency beyond the Shockley‐Queisser limit of ∼33% by making use of hot‐electron transfer (HET) routes and multiple exciton generation (MEG). By finely tuning the size of the QDs, the band gap can be carefully aligned to the metal oxide (MO) conduction band such that charge transfer from the photoexcited QD is thermodynamically favorable.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2000

Nanomaterials in Biotechnology

The past decade has seen an explosive growth worldwide in the synthesis and study of a wide range of nanostructured materials. A brief overview of this field, and its relationship to nanotechnology in general, will be presented with respect to possible applications in biotechnology. Results from our recent investigations of a variety of nanocomposites and cellular interactions with nanoscale ceramics will be presented in viewgraph form, along with some considerations of novel future directions.

Richard W. Siegel↗
NASA NTRS2001

Protein Crystal Based Nanomaterials

This is the final report on a NASA Grant. It concerns a description of work done, which includes: (1) Protein crystals cross-linked to form fibers; (2) Engineering of protein to favor crystallization; (3) Better knowledge-based potentials for protein-protein contacts; (4) Simulation of protein crystallization.

Bell, Jeffrey A.↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Application of Metal Oxide Nanomaterials for Chemical Sensor Development

NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has been developing miniature chemical sensors for a variety of applications including fire detection, emissions monitoring, fuel leak detection, and environmental monitoring. Smart Lick and Stick sensor technology which integrates a sensor array, electronics, telemetry, and power into one microsystem are being developed. These microsystems require low power consumption for long-term aerospace applications. One approach to decreasing power consumption is the use of nanotechnology. Nanocrystalline tin oxide (SnO2) carbon monoxide (CO) sensors developed previously by this group have been successfully used for fire detection and emissions monitoring. This presentation will briefly review the overall NASA GRC chemical sensor program and discuss our further effort in nanotechnology applications. New carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing material using doped nanocrystalline SnO2 will be discussed. Nanocrystalline SnO2 coated solid electrolyte CO2 sensors and SnO2 nanorod and nanofiber hydrogen (H2) sensors operated at reduced or room temperatures will also be discussed.

Xu, Jennifer C.↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Use of Nanomaterials to Achieve NASA's Exploration Program Power Goals

This slide presentation reviews the power requirements for the space exploration and the lunar surface mobility programs. It includes information about the specifications for high energy batteries and the power requirements for lunar rovers, lunar outposts, lunar ascent module, and the lunar EVA suit.

Jeevarajan, J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Nanomaterials Transform Hairstyling Tools

Dr. Dennis Morrison, a former scientist at Johnson Space Center, conducted research on microcapsules that were developed in space and designed to deliver drugs to cancerous tumors. This work led to research on nanoceramic materials, and in 2001, Morrison shared his expertise with Farouk Shami, the owner of Farouk Systems Inc., of Houston, Texas. After learning more, Shami developed a ceramic composite for his CHI (Cationic Hydration Interlink) hairstyling irons, brushes, nail lacquers, and hair dryers. Morrison also used his NASA research expertise as a platform to incorporate nanosilver and near-infrared light into the products.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Challenges for Insertion of Structural Nanomaterials in Aerospace Applications

In the two decades since Iijima's report on carbon nanotubes (CNT), there has been great interest in realizing the benefits of mechanical properties observed at the nanoscale in large-scale structures. The weight savings possible due to dramatic improvements in mechanical properties relative to state-of-the-art material systems can be game changing for applications like aerospace vehicles. While there has been significant progress in commercial production of CNTs, major aerospace applications that take advantage of properties offered by this material have yet to be realized. This paper provides a perspective on the technical challenges and barriers for insertion of CNTs as an emerging material technology in aerospace applications and proposes approaches that may reduce the typical timeframe for technology maturation and insertion into aerospace structures.

Sochi, Emilie J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Carbon Nanomaterials for Biosensing Applications

Biosensing devices comprised of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers have been developed for astronaut crew point-of-care. Their inherent nanometer scale, high conductivity, wide potential window, good biocompatibility and well-defined surface chemistry make them ideal candidates as biosensor electrodes. Here, we report two studies using carbon nanotube and carbon nanofiber electrodes for biomedical applications. First, a 3x3 electrode device, with each electrode containing 40,000 carbon nanofiber nanoelectrodes was fabricated on silicon using traditional microfabrication processing. The device was demonstrated as a multiplexed immunosensor for simultaneous, label-free detection of cardiac troponin-I, C-reactive protein and myoglobin. Antibodies specific to cardiac troponin-I, C-reactive protein and myoglobin were covalently bound to the CNF surface and were characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry. Each step of the modification process resulted in changes in resistance to charge transfer due to the changes at the electrode surface upon antibody immobilization and binding to the specific cardiac protein. The real-time label free detection of the three cardiac markers from pure components and mixtures was demonstrated with high sensitivity, down to 0.2 ng/mL, and good selectivity. Detection in human blood serum did not present false positives from non-specific protein adsorption. More recently, this detection scheme has been applied to inkjet printed carbon nanotube electrodes on Kapton and paper. Printed devices have several unique advantages including simple and inexpensive fabrication. The results demonstrate that these sensors can serve a miniaturized, low cost device for detection of proteins in complex mixtures making this platform a good candidate for early stage diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Future inkjet printed devices can be fabricated have the added advantage in their suitability to be manufactured in an in-space, microgravity environment.

carbon nanotubes↗