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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Investigation of the Potential of Repurposing Medium-Density Fiberboard Waste as an Adsorbent for Heavy Metal Ion Removal

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) waste generation has increased steadily over the past decades, and therefore, the investigation of novel methods to recycle this waste is very important. The potential of repurposing MDF waste as an adsorbent for the treatment of Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) ions in water was investigated using MDF offcuts. The highest adsorption potential in single-metal ion solution systems was observed for Pb(II) ions. The experimental data of Pb(II) ions fit well with the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Complexation and electrostatic interactions were identified as the adsorption mechanisms. The adsorption behavior of multi-metal ion adsorption systems was investigated by introducing Cd(II) ions as a competitive metal ion. The presence of the Cd(II) ions reduced the adsorption potential of Pb(II) ions, yet the preference for the Pb(II) ions remained. Regeneration studies were performed by using 0.1 M HCl as a regeneration agent for both systems. Even though a significant amount of adsorbed metal ions were recovered, the adsorption potential of the MDF was reduced in the subsequent adsorption cycles. Based on these results, MDF fines have the potential to be used as an economical adsorbent for remediation of wastewater containing heavy metal ions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Preparing Li-garnet electrodes with engineered structures by phase inversion and high shear compaction processes

We report solid-state lithium batteries are promising for safety and energy density com-pared with traditional lithium-ion batteries. However, the large interfacial resistance between the electrode and electrolyte is a bottleneck to achieving high-performance solid-state batteries. Engineered electrode structures with a porous scaffold of the solid electrolyte material are promising to lower the interfacial resistance and provide a mechanical support for a thin solid electrolyte layer. In this work, two ceramic processing techniques are used to fabricate porous/dense bilayer architectures based on a Li 6.25 Al 0.25 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 (LLZO) Li-garnet material. Finger-like vertically aligned pores are created by the phase inversion (PI) process. A water bath presaturated with Li salt prevents Li loss during the PI solvent exchange step. Pore size and porosity can be optimized by adjusting the bath temperature. The high shear compaction process was used to prepare LLZO tapes with 40, 60, and 80 vol% poreformer. The porosity of the tapes after sintering is 39.5%, 58.4%, and 75.4%, respectively. Microtomography exhibits the porosity, pore shape, and pore distribution of the tapes. A typical cathode material LiNi 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 O 2 (NMC) is filled into the pores via vacuum infiltration, and a dense cathode layer is formed within the garnet scaffold.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Characterizing Hydrated Polymers via Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy: Connecting Relative Permittivity, State of Water, and Salt Transport Properties of Sulfonated Polysulfones

Sulfonated polysulfone is a promising membrane material for separation and energy generation processes that rely on membranes to control the rates of small-molecule (e.g., water and ions) transport. The interactions among water molecules, ions, and the sulfonate groups in these polymers play a key role in controlling these rates of transport, but much remains unknown about these fundamental interactions in sulfonated polymers. In this study, we used dielectric relaxation spectroscopy to characterize water molecule dynamics in sulfonated polysulfone and Nafion. We found that the charged sulfonate groups contribute to a restriction of water molecule dynamics (i.e., a reduction in the characteristic time scale of dipolar motions) in a manner that is governed by the concentration and nature (i.e., conjugate base strength) of the sulfonate group. Additionally, we develop strategies to use these data to aid in modeling ion transport in sulfonated polysulfone. These results may be useful to guide engineering strategies for polymeric membranes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Collection of fluorescence from an ion using trap-integrated photonics

Spontaneously emitted photons are entangled with the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom of the emitting atom, so interference and measurement of these photons can entangle separate matter-based quantum systems as a resource for quantum information processing. Since confinement in a single-mode facilitates the photon interference needed for generating entanglement, the dipole emission patterns relevant in spontaneous emission present a mode-matching challenge. Current demonstrations rely on bulk photon-collection and manipulation optics that suffer from large component size and system-to-system variability—factors that impede scaling to the large numbers of entangled pairs needed for quantum information processing. To address these limitations, we demonstrate a collection method that enables passive phase stability, straightforward photonic manipulation, and intrinsic reproducibility. Specifically, we engineer a waveguide-integrated grating to couple photons emitted from a trapped ion into a single optical mode within a microfabricated ion-trap chip. Using the integrated collection optic, we characterize the collection efficiency, image the ion, and detect the ion’s quantum state. The integrated optic covers 2.18% of the solid angle and collects 1.97 ± 0.3% of the spontaneously emitted light incident on the grating for a total collection efficiency of 0.043% into a single-mode waveguide. This proof-of-principle demonstration lays the foundation for leveraging the inherent stability and reproducibility of integrated photonics to create, manipulate, and measure multipartite quantum states in arrays of quantum emitters.

Optical physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

A conformal heat-drying direct ink writing 3D printing for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

High areal capacity electrodes hold great potential for high-energy density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but their poor electrochemical kinetics limit their power density. Here, in this study, high areal capacity 3D-structured LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 cathodes (4.3 mAh cm -2 ) are prepared via 3D printing with a manner of direct ink writing. The electrodes had an enlarged electrode–electrolyte contact area, shortened diffusion pathway, and reduced intercalation-induced stress, thereby delivering enhanced rate capability and cyclability in LIBs, which is 143.6 mAh g -1 at 3C and a 60.2 % capacity retention over 800 cycles at 1C. Moreover, at electrode level, the 3D-NMC exhibits an energy and power densities of 313.1 Wh kg -1 and 657.9 W kg -1 , respectively. Furthermore, the theoretical calculation suggests that reducing the gap width will be highly beneficial to the energy and power densities. This work establishes a milestone in understanding the cycling effect on the electrode local structure, including the void area and the LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 region, which confirms the effectiveness of 3D printing for electrode preparation.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Garnet-Based Advanced Solid-State Batteries

I will start by giving an overview of active research activities in my research group located at University of Maryland Energy Research Center, including wood materials toward sustainability, 3000K high temperature materials and processing (Science2018), wood nanotechnologies (Nature2018), beyond-Li ion batteries (solid state, Na-ion). Then I will focus on our recent development on garnet-based solid-state Li-metal batteries including interface engineering to improve the wetting between Li metal anode and Garnet solid-state electrolyte (Nature Materials 2016; Science Advances 2017); Garnet based 3D Li ion conductive framework (bilayer, trilayer) toward high energy density Li-S batteries (EES 2017); Garnet nanofiber based flexible, hybrid electrolyte with a high Li ion conductivity (PNAS 2016), and In-situ neutron depth profiling technique in understanding Li-garnet and CNT-garnet interfaces (JACS 2016).

Hu, Liangbing↗
DOE OSTI2023

A 4 x 4 SiPM Sensor Array with Fast Preamplified Output Engineered for the PWO Detectors of the EIC EEEMCAL

The PbWO4 scintillation detectors for the Electron-Ion Collider Electron Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EEEMCAL) cannot use vacuum photomultipler tubes due to the high magnetic field environment. We are presenting a readout solution with a 4 x 4 SiPM array directly coupled to a preamplification and summing stage. A second amplification stage with variable gain and offset adjustments is also included in the compact electronics module. The integrated power supply feeds the signal processing chain and the adjustable bias control. The parameter settings are saved locally on a EEPROM and are adjustable via the integrated communication interface through USB or RS485. The design was optimized to maximize signal collection energy resolution, for fast timing and wide dynamic range while keeping a small footprint with low power consumption and heat dissipation. The output response is fast enough to meet the 100 ? 200 ns digitization gate requirements for the detector. The electronics assembly requires no active cooling and includes a temperature sensor and a gain compensation of thermal variations which are important features for stable operation in large scale detector structures. A detector prototype was constructed with 20 mm x 20 mm x 200 mm PWO crystals affixed with individual SiPM array readouts and arranged in a 3 x 3 array. This detector was tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility with 5GeV positrons. We will present the results of these detector characterization measurements.

Philip, O.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Micro-trench measurements of the net deposition of carbon impurity ions in the DIII-D divertor and the resulting suppression of surface erosion

In this work, we report carbon impurity ion incident angles and deposition rates, along with silicon erosion rates, from measurements of micro-engineered trenches on a silicon surface exposed to L-mode deuterium plasmas at the DIII-D divertor. Post exposure ex-situ analysis determined elemental maps and concentrations, carbon deposition thicknesses, and erosion of silicon surfaces. Carbon deposition profiles on the trench floor showed carbon ion shadowing that was consistent with ERO calculations of average carbon ion angle distributions (IADs) for both polar and azimuthal angles. Measured silicon net erosion rates negatively correlated with the deposited carbon concentration at different locations. Differential erosion of surfaces on two different ion-downstream trench slope structures suggested that carbon deposition rate is affected by the carbon ion incident angle and significantly suppressed the surface erosion. The results suggest the C impurity ion incident angles, determined by the IADs and surface morphology, strongly affect erosion rates as well as the main ion (D, T, He) incident angles.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Atomic- and Molecular-Scale Interphase Engineering for High-Performance Solid-State Batteries

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) promise a decisive advance beyond conventional Li-ion systems, yet their development remains constrained by persistent solid–solid interfacial instabilities that degrade performance and durability. Interfaces between solid electrolytes and both cathodes and Li metal often exhibit poor wettability, limited physical contact, and high charge–transfer resistance, leading to chemical decomposition, mechanical failure, and impedance growth. Overcoming these limitations requires interphase engineering with atomic-scale precision—capabilities that conventional coating methods cannot reliably deliver. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) and molecular layer deposition (MLD) uniquely meet this need by enabling ultrathin, conformal, and composition-tunable films that stabilize reactive surfaces, suppress parasitic reactions, and regulate Li-metal morphology. Importantly, this Perspective highlights ALD/MLD systems that have already demonstrated effectiveness in liquid-electrolyte cells and discusses how these validated strategies can be deliberately translated to solid-state architectures. By grounding future directions in experimentally proven concepts rather than speculative hypotheses, we outline how atomic- and molecular-scale design principles can accelerate the development of robust, high-performance SSB technologies.

atomic and molecular layer deposition↗
DOE OSTI2020

Potassium Prussian blue-coated Li-rich cathode with enhanced lithium ion storage property

With high specific capacity, the layered Li-rich Mn-based oxide (LRMO) is a promising candidate cathode material for Li-ion batteries. However, the irreversible release of Li-ions during the first charging process, instability of LRMO/electrolyte interface and relatively low ion conductivity of LRMO result in low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE), poor cycle stability and rate performance, which prohibit its further application. Furthermore, interface engineering via additive coating is expected to effectively address these issues. Herein, we rely on potassium Prussian blue (KPB), a Li + acceptor with good ion conductivity, as a new coating material on LRMO particles. The KPB coating not only forms a protective layer on the surface of LRMO against electrolyte corrosion, but also functions as a host for Li + transport and accommodation, leading to enhanced ion conductivity and ICE of LRMO cathode. Consequently, 2 wt% KPB coated LRMO cathode achieved an initial discharge capacity of up to 281.7 mA h g -1 with an ICE of 85.69% compared to an ICE of 79.52% for the LRMO cathode without coating. The cycling and rate performance are also greatly improved as evidenced by the well maintained capacity of up to 176.8 mA h g -1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 C, compared to the limited capacity of only 135.3 mA h g -1 for the LRMO cathode without coating. Overall, this work pioneers the use of potassium Prussian blue as additive coating material to enhance performance of LRMO cathode, and we expect it to inspire the battery community with new strategies of material engineering/design toward practical application in high-energy lithium-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

First-principles elucidation of defect-mediated Li transport in hexagonal boron nitride

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a promising candidate as a protective membrane or separator in Li-ion and Li–S batteries, given its excellent chemical stability, mechanical robustness, and high thermal conductivity. In addition, hBN can be functionalized by introducing defects and dopants, or be directly integrated into other active components of batteries, which further augments its appeal to the field. Here, we use first-principles simulations to evaluate the role of atomic defects in hBN in regulating the Li-ion diffusion mechanism and associated kinetics. Specifically, the following four distinct types of vacancy defects are considered: isolated single B and N vacancies, a B–N vacancy pair, and a B 3 N vacancy cluster. It is found that these defect sites generally favor Li intercalation and out-of-plane diffusion but slow down in-plane Li-ion diffusion due to a strong Li trapping effect at the defect sites. Such a trapping effect is, however, highly local such that it does not necessarily affect the overall Li-ion conductivity in defected hBN layers. The present systematic evaluation of the impact of atomic defects on Li ion migration and accompanied charge analysis of hBN lattice in response to Li-ion diffusion provide a mechanistic understanding of Li-ion transport behavior in defected hBN and highlight the potential of defect engineering to achieve optimal material performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Unraveling interphase-driven failure pathways in LiMn0.6Fe0.4PO4/graphite pouch cells

LiMnxFe1−xPO4 (LMFP) is a promising high-voltage, thermally stable, and earth-abundant cathode material, yet its practical application is limited by interphase instability and Mn dissolution. In this work, we systematically evaluate LiMn0.6Fe0.4PO4/graphite pouch cells using three electrolyte formulations including control carbonate electrolyte, control + 2 wt% vinylene carbonate (VC), and control + 2 wt% VC + 1 wt% 1,3,2-dioxathiolane 2,2-dioxide (DTD), to establish how electrolyte composition governs interphase chemistry and long-term degradation. Electrochemical testing shows that both additives are preferentially reduced prior to ethylene carbonate (EC) during cell formation, generating robust cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) and solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layers that suppress gas evolution and raise the first-cycle coulombic efficiency to 89.3%. Additionally, the dual-additive electrolyte delivers the most stable performance, retaining over 85% capacity after 600 cycles while minimizing impedance growth under long-term cycling at C/3 and 40 °C. Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy confirms that VC + DTD effectively suppresses electrolyte oxidation at the cathode surface, and micro-X-ray fluorescence shows substantially reduced Mn dissolution and deposition on the graphite anode. Density functional theory simulations further provided insights into the structural and energetic influences of alkoxide species on the cathode surface, proposing a Mn2+ extraction mechanism. The combined experimental and computational findings establish a mechanistic link between electrolyte composition and interphase evolution, highlighting the effectiveness of electrolyte engineering for extending the operational lifetime of LMFP-based lithium-ion batteries.

Chak, Chanmonirath Michael↗
DOE OSTI2022

Renewable Solvents to Replace Water in the Synthesis of Battery Materials

Our lab has been engaged in using glycerol to replace water in the synthesis of metal oxides, especially those for use in Li-ion battery. Glycerol is a byproduct from biodiesel production. The U.S. biodiesel manufacturers generate about 1 billion pounds of glycerol yearly, which needs to be utilized for producing value added products. By using glycerol as a solvent, we found that it can replace water to prepare many metal oxide powders. The materials synthesis processes have the potential to significantly reduce manufacturing cost and alleviate the environmental issues with aqueous processes. In this talk, I will present some of our work in materials synthesis using glycerol as a solvent. In particular, I will introduce the work on making active cathode materials for the Li-ion battery.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multiphysics Meshfree Degradation Modeling of Energy Storage Materials with Kernel Enrichment

Energy storage materials exhibit strong electro-chemo-mechanical coupling and highly anisotropic material properties, contributing to the formation and propagation of micro-cracking during charge/discharge cycling and ultimately diminishing performance and service life. With microstructural images supplied by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), pixel-based meshfree model construction by the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) is used to represent the complex material microstructures that dictate the coupled physics of these systems. Traditional electro-chemo-mechanical models rely on mesh-based finite element methods, which can lead to difficulties in meshing such complex geometries and capturing crack propagation due to mesh dependency. The first kernel enrichment discussed will be the interface modified reproducing kernel (IM-RK) [1, 2], constructed by scaling a smooth kernel function with an interface-distance function to achieve strategic discontinuity types (i.e. weak discontinuities for strain discontinuities and strong discontinuities for cracks) and alleviate Gibbs oscillations near these transition zones. The IM-RK is especially useful for areas in which a known discontinuity-type is expected a priori. The second kernel enrichment to be discussed is a neural network-enhanced reproducing kernel (NN-RK) [3, 4], which is introduced to effectively model non-obvious damage and crack propagation in the material microstructures; the location, orientation, and solution transition near a localization are automatically captured by superimposed block-level NN optimizations. This NN enrichment approach allows for effective modeling of localizations via a fixed background discretization, relieving tedious efforts for adaptive refinement in traditional mesh-based methods. Applications to the heterogeneous microstructures of Li-ion battery cathodes will be presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. NN-RK is additionally used to inform how crack opening and closure in turn affect the electro-chemo-mechanical responses in the material microstructure. Reference: [1] Wang, Y., Baek, J., Tang, Y. et al. "Support vector machine guided reproducing kernel particle method for image-based modeling of microstructures," Comput Mech 73, 907-942 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-023-02394-9. [2] Susuki, K., Allen, J. & Chen, J. S.. "Image-based modeling of coupled electro-chemo-mechanical behavior of Li-ion battery cathode using an interface-modified reproducing kernel particle method," Engineering with Computers (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-024-02016-9. [3] Baek, J., Chen, J. S., Susuki, K., "Neural Network enhanced Reproducing Kernel Particle Method for Modeling Localizations," International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol. 123, 4422-4454 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.7040.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Steric Impediment of Ion Migration Contributes to Improved Operational Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells

The operational instability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is understood to mainly originate from the migration of ionic species (or charged defects) under a potential gradient. Compositional engineering of the “A” site cation of the ABX3 perovskite structure has been shown to be an effective route to improve the stability of PSCs. Here, the effect of size-mismatch-induced lattice distortions on the ion migration energetics and operational stability of PSCs is investigated. It is determined that the size mismatch of the mixed “A” site composition films and devices leads to a steric effect to impede the migration pathways of ions to increase the activation energy of ion migration, which is demonstrated through multiple theoretical and experimental evidence. Consequently, the mixed composition devices exhibit significantly improved thermal stability under continuous heating at 85 °C and operational stability under continuous 1 sun illumination, with an extrapolated lifetime of 2011 h, compared to the 222 h of the reference device.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Measurement of ion transport properties in ion exchange membranes for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting systems have the unique ability to produce renewable hydrogen directly from sunlight, independent of the electrical grid. These systems are therefore appealing technological options for resilient long-term energy storage. Ion selective membranes, such as monopolar and bipolar membranes, are a vital component of PEC water-splitting systems. These membranes allow for ionic conduction between the cathode and anode chambers, separation of products, and improved catalyst environments for reactions. In order to measure key properties and to study the performance of these ion exchange membranes, it is imperative to develop a robust testing protocol that can be used across the field. This paper introduces two standard electrochemical cells designed to directly measure ion transport properties in monopolar and bipolar membranes. The first electrochemical cell uses commercially available Pt disk electrodes to preform electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and reliably measure through-plane conductivity of monopolar membranes. The second electrochemical cell uses four-point measurements with Luggin capillaries and a series of membrane configurations to perform current density-voltage and Faradaic efficiency (FE) measurements for water dissociation (WD) reactions on bipolar membranes. The cell designs and techniques laid out below allow for accurate measurement of ion transport parameters in ion exchange membranes, direct comparison of membranes being developed across the field, and in turn, greater advancements in ion exchange membranes and PEC water-splitting systems.

cation exchange membrane↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integrated Ion-Exchange Membrane Resin Wafer Assemblies for Aromatic Organic Acid Separations Using Electrodeionization

Aromatic acids, such as p-coumaric acid, are valuable chemical intermediates that are used in the specialty chemical industries because they are precursors to phenylpropanoid compounds. The separation of p-coumaric acid from fermentation broths is a critical step in the biochemical production process and more broadly the circular carbon economy. Electrodeionization (EDI) has been applied toward separations of low-carbon chain acids, but purifying p-coumaric acid has been challenging due to fouling and irreversible binding with ion-exchange membranes and resins. Here, we report a new membrane wafer assembly (MWA) consisting of laminated ion exchange membranes to porous ionomer-binder resin wafers for EDI. The MWAs in an EDI stack showed a 7-fold increase in p-coumaric acid capture while also using 70% less specific energy consumption when benchmarked against state-of-the-art resin wafer EDI modules. The more efficient p-coumaric acid recovery was ascribed to (i) the 38% reduction in interfacial transport resistance between the membrane and resin wafer and (ii) using imidazolium anion exchange membranes and ionomer binders in the MWA. MD simulations revealed enhanced transport rates for p-coumarate in imidazolium ionomers through π–π interactions. As a result, adopting the new MWA significantly reduced the amount of ion-exchange membranes in EDI and may lead to drastic capital cost savings.

42 ENGINEERING↗