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At least 271 records · Page 15

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2016

Multi-shell model of ion-induced nucleic acid condensation

We present a semi-quantitative model of condensation of short nucleic acid (NA) duplexes induced by trivalent cobalt(III) hexammine (CoHex) ions. The model is based on partitioning of bound counterion distribution around single NA duplex into “external” and “internal” ion binding shells distinguished by the proximity to duplex helical axis. In the aggregated phase the shells overlap, which leads to significantly increased attraction of CoHex ions in these overlaps with the neighboring duplexes. The duplex aggregation free energy is decomposed into attractive and repulsive components in such a way that they can be represented by simple analytical expressions with parameters derived from molecular dynamic simulations and numerical solutions of Poisson equation. The attractive term depends on the fractions of bound ions in the overlapping shells and affinity of CoHex to the “external” shell of nearly neutralized duplex. The repulsive components of the free energy are duplex configurational entropy loss upon the aggregation and the electrostatic repulsion of the duplexes that remains after neutralization by bound CoHex ions. The estimates of the aggregation free energy are consistent with the experimental range of NA duplex condensation propensities, including the unusually poor condensation of RNA structures and subtle sequence effects upon DNA condensation. The model predicts that, in contrast to DNA, RNA duplexes may condense into tighter packed aggregates with a higher degree of duplex neutralization. An appreciable CoHex mediated RNA-RNA attraction requires closer inter-duplex separation to engage CoHex ions (bound mostly in the “internal” shell of RNA) into short-range attractive interactions. The model also predicts that longer NA fragments will condense more readily than shorter ones. The ability of this model to explain experimentally observed trends in NA condensation lends support to proposed NA condensation picture based on the multivalent “ion binding shells.”.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-770: Tumor Control in Ion Beam Radiotherapy with Different Ions in Presence of Hypoxia

Purpose: The reduced concentration of oxygen in cells (hypoxia) results in a lower cell death rate after irradiation that can lead to treatment failure. The effect can be expressed by the oxygen enhancement ratio (OER). So far, only few attempts to include OER in treatment planning for ion beam therapy were made, which are based on the dose averaged LET estimates and do not distinguish among ion species and fractionation schemes. To overcome these limitations, we implemented a new OER model and used it to estimate tumor control in clinical cases. Methods: The model, based on the microdosimetric kinetic model, was benchmarked with in-vitro data from different ions irradiation. It was included in the simulation of treatments of a set of clinical cases (glioblastoma) using p, Li, He, C and O ion beams. Tumor Control Probability (TCP) was estimated as a function of oxygen partial pressure, dose per fraction and primary ion type. Results: The modelized OER was found to be strongly dependent on both LET and ion type, and showed a decreasing OER for increasing dose per fraction with a slope that depends on the LET and ion type, in good agreement with the experimental data. In the clinical cases studied, an increase in TCP by increasing ion charge and dose per fraction (more than 30% variation from p to O for moderate hypoxia) was found. Higher OER decrease rates as function of dose per fraction were found for lighter ions (up to 20% varying from 2 to 8 Gy(RBE)). Conclusions: A novel modeling of the OER that explicitly includes the dependence on ion type and dose per fraction was implemented. The model was exploited to evaluate the impact of hypoxia in ion beam radiotherapy, facilitating the identification of the treatment condition optimality, including fractionation scheme and ion type.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Whistler turbulence heating of electrons and ions: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simuations

In this study, the decay of whistler turbulence in a collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized plasma is studied using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The simulations are initialized with a narrowband, relatively isotropic distribution of long wavelength whistler modes. A first ensemble of simulations at electron beta ${\beta }_{{\rm{e}}}$ = 0.25 and ion-to-electron mass ratio ${m}_{{\rm{i}}}$/${m}_{{\rm{e}}}$ = 400 is carried out on a domain cube of dimension $L{\omega }_{\mathrm{pi}}$/c = 5.12 where ${\omega }_{\mathrm{pi}}$ is the ion plasma frequency. The simulations begin with a range of dimensionless fluctuating field energy densities, ${\epsilon }_{{\rm{o}}}$, and follow the fluctuations as they cascade to broadband, anisotropic turbulence which dissipates at shorter wavelengths, heating both electrons and ions. The electron heating is stronger and preferentially parallel/antiparallel to the background magnetic field ${{\boldsymbol{B}}}_{{\rm{o}}};$ the ion energy gain is weaker and is preferentially in directions perpendicular to ${{\boldsymbol{B}}}_{{\rm{o}}}$. The important new results here are that, over 0.01 < ${\epsilon }_{{\rm{o}}}$ < 0.25, the maximum rate of electron heating scales approximately as ${\epsilon }_{{\rm{o}}}$, and the maximum rate of ion heating scales approximately as ${\epsilon }_{{\rm{o}}}^{1.5}$. A second ensemble of simulations at ${\epsilon }_{{\rm{o}}}$ = 0.10 and ${\beta }_{{\rm{e}}}$ = 0.25 shows that, over 25 < ${m}_{{\rm{i}}}$/${m}_{{\rm{e}}}\;$< 1836, the ratio of the maximum ion heating rate to the maximum electron heating rate scales approximately as ${m}_{{\rm{e}}}$/${m}_{{\rm{i}}}$.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Radiation defect dynamics in Si at room temperature studied by pulsed ion beams

The evolution of radiation defects after the thermalization of collision cascades often plays the dominant role in the formation of stable radiation disorder in crystalline solids of interest to electronics and nuclear materials applications. Here, we explore a pulsed-ion-beam method to study defect interaction dynamics in Si crystals bombarded at room temperature with 500 keV Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe ions. The effective time constant of defect interaction is measured directly by studying the dependence of lattice disorder, monitored by ion channeling, on the passive part of the beam duty cycle. The effective defect diffusion length is revealed by the dependence of damage on the active part of the beam duty cycle. Results show that the defect relaxation behavior obeys a second order kinetic process for all the cases studied, with a time constant in the range of ∼4–13 ms and a diffusion length of ∼15–50 nm. Both radiation dynamics parameters (the time constant and diffusion length) are essentially independent of the maximum instantaneous dose rate, total ion dose, and dopant concentration within the ranges studied. However, both the time constant and diffusion length increase with increasing ion mass. This demonstrates that the density of collision cascades influences not only defect production and annealing efficiencies but also the defect interaction dynamics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by ion implantation for applications in silicon solar cells

Passivated contacts (poly-Si/SiO{sub x}/c-Si) doped by shallow ion implantation are an appealing technology for high efficiency silicon solar cells, especially for interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells where a masked ion implantation facilitates their fabrication. This paper presents a study on tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by low-energy ion implantation into amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers and examines the influence of the ion species (P, B, or BF{sub 2}), the ion implantation dose (5 × 10{sup 14 }cm{sup −2} to 1 × 10{sup 16 }cm{sup −2}), and the subsequent high-temperature anneal (800 °C or 900 °C) on the passivation quality and junction characteristics using double-sided contacted silicon solar cells. Excellent passivation quality is achieved for n-type passivated contacts by P implantations into either intrinsic (undoped) or in-situ B-doped a-Si layers with implied open-circuit voltages (iV{sub oc}) of 725 and 720 mV, respectively. For p-type passivated contacts, BF{sub 2} implantations into intrinsic a-Si yield well passivated contacts and allow for iV{sub oc} of 690 mV, whereas implanted B gives poor passivation with iV{sub oc} of only 640 mV. While solar cells featuring in-situ B-doped selective hole contacts and selective electron contacts with P implanted into intrinsic a-Si layers achieved V{sub oc} of 690 mV and fill factor (FF) of 79.1%, selective hole contacts realized by BF{sub 2} implantation into intrinsic a-Si suffer from drastically reduced FF which is caused by a non-Ohmic Schottky contact. Finally, implanting P into in-situ B-doped a-Si layers for the purpose of overcompensation (counterdoping) allowed for solar cells with V{sub oc} of 680 mV and FF of 80.4%, providing a simplified and promising fabrication process for IBC solar cells featuring passivated contacts.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2016

Lattice damage and compositional changes in Xe ion irradiated In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.32−1.0) single crystals

Lattice disorder and compositional changes in In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.32, 0.47, 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0) films on GaN/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} substrates, induced by room-temperature irradiation of 5 MeV Xe ions, have been investigated using both Rutherford backscattering spectrometry under ion-channeling conditions and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The results show that for a fluence of 3 × 10{sup 13 }cm{sup −2}, the relative level of lattice disorder in In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N increases monotonically from 59% to 90% with increasing indium concentration x from 0.32 to 0.7; a further increase in x up to 1.0 leads to little increase in the disorder level. In contrast to Ga-rich In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.32 and 0.47), significant volume swelling of up to ∼25% accompanied with oxidation in In-rich In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0) is observed. In addition, irradiation-induced atomic mixing occurs at the interface of In-rich In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N and GaN. The results from this study indicate an extreme susceptibility of the high In-content In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N to heavy-ion irradiation, and suggest that cautions must be exercised in applying ion-implantation techniques to these materials at room temperature. Further studies of the irradiation behavior at elevated temperatures are warranted.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2020

Ion Exchange Gels Allow Organic Electrochemical Transistor Operation with Hydrophobic Polymers in Aqueous Solution

Conjugated-polymer-based organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are being studied for applications ranging from biochemical sensing to neural interfaces. While new polymers that interface digital electronics with the aqueous chemistry of life are being developed, the majority of high-performance organic transistor materials are poor at transporting biologically relevant ions. Here, the operating mode of an organic transistor is changed from that of an electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistor (EGOFET) to that of an OECT by incorporating an ion exchange gel between the active layer and the aqueous electrolyte. This device works by taking up biologically relevant ions from solution and injecting more hydrophobic ions into the active layer. Using poly[2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl) thieno[3,2-b]thiophene] as the active layer and a blend of an ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) as the ion exchange gel, four orders of magnitude improvement in device transconductance and a 100-fold increase in kinetics are demonstrated. The ability of the ion-exchange-gel OECT to record biological signals by measuring the action potentials of a Venus flytrap is demonstrated. These results show the possibility of using interface engineering to open up a wider palette of organic semiconductors as OECTs that can be gated by aqueous solutions.

Bischak, Connor G.↗

DOE OSTI2018

DRILL Interface Makes Ion Soft Landing Broadly Accessible for Energy Science and Applications

Polyoxometalates (POM) have been deposited onto carbon nanotube (CNT) electrodes using benchtop ion soft landing (SL) enabled by a vortex-confined electrohydrodynamic desolvation process. The device is based on the dry ion localization and locomotion (DRILL) mass spectrometry interface of Fedorov and co-workers. By adding electrospray emitters, heating the desolvation gas, and operating at high gas flow rates, it is possible to obtain stable ion currents up to -15 nA that are ideal for deposition. Coupled with ambient ion optics, this interface enables desolvated ions to be delivered to surfaces while excluding solvent and counterions. Electron microscopy of surfaces prepared using the device reveal discrete POM and no aggregation that degrades electrode performance. Characterization of POM-coated CNT electrodes in a supercapacitor showed an energy storage capacity similar to that achieved with SL in vacuum. For solutions that produce primarily a single ion by electrospray ionization, benchtop SL offers a simpler and less costly approach for surface modification with applications in catalysis, energy storage, and beyond.

Johnson, Grant E.↗

DOE OSTI2021

The impact of alkali‐ion intercalation on redox chemistry and mechanical deformations: Case study on intercalation of Li, Na, and K ions into FePO 4 cathode

Abstract Batteries made of charge carriers from Earth‐crust abundant materials (e.g., Na, K, and Mg) have received extensive attention as an alternative to Li‐ion batteries for grid storage. However, a lack of understanding of the behavior of these larger ions in the electrode materials hinders the development of electrode structures suitable for these large ions. In this study, we investigate the impact of alkali ions (Li, Na, and K) on the redox chemistry and mechanical deformations of iron phosphate composite cathodes by using electrochemical techniques and in situ digital image correlation. Na‐ion and Li‐ion intercalation demonstrate a nearly linear correlation between electrochemical strains and the state of charge and discharge. The strain development shows nonlinear dependance on the state of charge and discharge for K ions. Strain rate calculations show that K ion intercalation results in a progressive increase in the strain rate for all cycles. Li and Na intercalation induce nearly constant strain rates with the exception of the first discharge cycle of Na intercalation. When the same amount of ions are inserted into the electrode, the electrode shows the lowest strain generation upon Li intercalation compared to larger alkali ions. Na and K ions induce similar volumetric changes in the electrode when the state of charge and discharge is around 30%. Although the electrode experiences larger absolute strain generation at the end of the discharge cycles upon Na intercalation, strain rates were found to be greater for K ions. Potential‐dependent behaviors also demonstrate more sluggish redox reactions during K intercalation, compared to Li and Na. Our quantitative analysis suggests that the strain rate, rather than the absolute value of strain, is the critical factor in amorphization of the crystalline electrode.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2019

In Situ Liquid Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry: A Surprisingly Soft Ionization Process for Investigation of Halide Ion Hydration

The understanding of ion solvation phenomenon is of significance due to their influences on many important chemical, biological and environmental processes. Mass spectrometry (MS) based methods have been used to investigate this topic with molecular insights. As ion-solvent interactions are weak, ionization processes should be as soft as possible in order to retain solvation structures. An in situ liquid secondary ion MS (SIMS) approach developed in our group has been recently utilized in investigations of Li ion solvation in non-aqueous solution and detected a series of solvated Li ions. As traditionally SIMS has long been recognized as a hard ionization process with strong damage occurring at the sputtering interface, it is very interesting to study further how soft in situ liquid SIMS can be. In this work, we used halide ion hydration as an example to compare the ionization performance of in situ liquid SIMS approach with regular electrospray ionization MS (ESI-MS). Results show that although ESI has been recognized as a soft ionization method, nearly no solvated halide ions were detected by ESI-MS analysis, which acquired only strong signals of salt ion clusters. In contrast, in liquid SIMS spectra, a series of obvious hydrated halide ion compositions could be observed. We further evaluated the hydration numbers of halide ions and revealed the effects of the ion size, charge density and polarizability on the hydration phenomenon. Our findings demonstrated that the in situ liquid SIMS approach is surprisingly soft, and expected to have very broad applications on investigation of various ion-solvent interactions and many other interesting chemical processes (e.g., the initial nucleation of nanoparticle formation) in liquid environment.

Zhang, Yanyan↗

DOE OSTI2020

Salt Effects on Li-Ion Exchange Kinetics of Na 2 Mg 2 P 3 O 9 N: Systematic In Situ Synchrotron Diffraction Studies

The kinetics and thermodynamics of solid-state ion exchange of Li+ into Na2Mg2P3O9N were investigated using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction methods for a series of Li-containing salts, allowing systematic trends with general applicability to ion exchange reactions to be elucidated. The collection of data for a wide range of reaction conditions was enabled through the use of a novel multiwell sample environment which leverages the ability of the synchrotron beamline to rapidly (similar to 1 s) collect high-quality data suitable for monitoring reaction progress. From these data, it was possible to resolve the influence of salt choice and salt concentration on the ion exchange reaction kinetics. Furthermore, by carrying out experiments at different temperatures, initial estimates of activation energies were obtained. It was generally found that the ion exchange reaction kinetics strongly depended on the salt chosen as the ion source rather than being primarily determined by the ion mobility of the ceramic.

Cosby, Monty R.↗

DOE OSTI2016

Influence of Surface Oxidation on Ion Dynamics and Capacitance in Porous and Nonporous Carbon Electrodes

We investigate the influence of surface chemistry and ion confinement on capacitance and electrosorption dynamics of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) in supercapacitors. Using air oxidation and vacuum annealing, we produced defunctionalized and oxygen-rich surfaces of carbide-derived carbons (CDCs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). While oxidized surfaces of porous CDCs improve capacitance and rate handling abilities of ions, defunctionalized nonporous GNPs improve charge storage densities on planar electrodes. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) probed the structure, dynamics, and orientation of RTIL ions confined in divergently functionalized pores. Oxidized, ionophilic surfaces draw ions closer to pore surfaces and enhance potential-driven ion transport during electrosorption. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations corroborated experimental data and demonstrated the significance of surface functional groups on ion orientations, accumulation densities, and capacitance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2021

The many-body expansion for aqueous systems revisited: III. Hofmeister ion – water interactions

We report a Many Body Energy (MBE) analysis of aqueous ionic clusters containing anions and cations at the two opposite ends of the Hofmeister series, viz. the kosmotropes Ca2+, SO42- and chaotropes NH4+ and ClO4- with 9 water molecules to quantify the how these ions in altering the interaction between the water molecules in their immediate surrounding. The current results are contrasted to the ones reported earlier for water clusters as well as for alkali metal and halide ion aqueous clusters of the same size, which lie in the middle of the Hofmeister series. Through this analysis, noteworthy differences between the MBE of kosmotropes and chaotropes were identified. The MBE of kosmotropes is dominated by ion-water interactions that extends beyond the 4-body term, the point at which the MBE of pure water converges. The percentage contribution of the 2- B to the total cluster binding energy is noticeably larger. The disruption due to the dominant ion results in weak, unfavorable water-water interactions. The MBE for chaotropes, on the other hand, was found to converge more quickly as it more closely resembles that of pure water clusters. Chaotropes exhibit weaker overall binding energies and ion-water interactions with more favorable water-water interactions, somewhat recovering the pattern of the 2-4 body terms exemplified by pure water clusters. More importantly, both kosmotropic and chaotropic ions exhibit an anticorrelation between the 2-B ion-water (I-W) and water-water (W-W) interactions as well as between the 3-B (I-W-W) and (I-W) interactions. The consideration of two different structural arrangements (ion inside and outside of a water cluster) suggests that fully solvated (ion inside) chaotropes disrupt the hydrogen bonding network in a similar manner as partially solvated (ion outside) kosmotropes and offer useful insights into the modeling requirements of bulk vs. an interface. Finally, the 2-B contribution to the total Basis Set Superposition Error (BSSE) correction for the kosmotropic and chaotropic ions follows the previously reported erf profile vs. intermolecular distance. When scaled for the corresponding dimer energies and distances, a single profile fits the current results together with all previously reported ones for the pure water and halide water clusters.

Herman, Kristina M.↗

DOE OSTI2018

Measurements of the effective electron density in an electron beam ion trap using extreme ultraviolet spectra and optical imaging

In an electron beam ion trap (EBIT), the ions are not confined to the electron beam, but rather oscillate in and out of the beam. As a result, the ions do not continuously experience the full density of the electron beam. To determine the effective electron density, n e,eff , experienced by the ions, the electron beam size, the nominal electron density n e , and the ion distribution around the beam, i.e., the so-called ion cloud, must be measured. We use imaging techniques in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and optical to determine these. The electron beam width is measured using 3 d → 3 p emission from Fe xii and xiii between 185 and 205 Å. These transitions are fast and the EUV emission occurs only within the electron beam. The measured spatial emission profile and variable electron current yield a nominal electron density range of n e ~ 10 11 –10 13 cm –3 . We determine the size of the ion cloud using optical emission from metastable levels of ions with radiative lifetimes longer than the ion orbital periods. Here, the resulting emission maps out the spatial distribution of the ion cloud. We find a typical electron beam radius of ~60 μm and an ion cloud radius of ~300 μ m. These yield a spatially averaged effective electron density, ne,eff, experienced by the ions in EBIT spanning ~ 5 × 10 9 –5 × 10 11 cm –3 .

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2018

Turbulent transport stabilization by ICRH minority fast ions in low rotating JET ILW L-mode plasmas

The first experimental demonstration that fast ion induced stabilization of thermal turbulent transport takes place also at low values of plasma toroidal rotation has been obtained in JET ILW (ITER-like wall) L-mode plasmas with high ( 3 He)-D ICRH (ion cyclotron resonance heating) power. A reduction of the gyro-Bohm normalized ion heat flux and higher values of the normalized ion temperature gradient have been observed at high ICRH power and low NBI (neutral beam injection) power and plasma rotation. Gyrokinetic simulations indicate that ITG (ion temperature gradient) turbulence stabilization induced by the presence of high-energetic 3 He ions is the key mechanism in order to explain the experimental observations. Two main mechanisms have been identified to be responsible for the turbulence stabilization: a linear electrostatic wave-fast particle resonance mechanism and a nonlinear electromagnetic mechanism. The dependence of the stabilization on the 3 He distribution function has also been studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

On the role of ion temperature gradient turbulence in driving ion thermal transport in neutral beam injection-heated L-mode plasmas in a superconducting tokamak

In this paper, we report a detailed experimental study of the role of ion-temperature-gradient driven turbulence in driving ion thermal transport in neutral beam injection (NBI)-heated L-mode plasmas in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) (Wan et al 2000 Nucl. Fusion 40 1057) coupled with linear and nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. Significant ion-scale turbulence k ⟂ < cm −1 (k ⟂ < 1.5, where k ⟂ where is the perpendicular wavenumber and ρ s is the ion gyroradius calculated using local electron temperature T e ), measured with a microwave reflectometer, is observed in the plasma core at for r/a ≈ 0.265 and 0.5 (where r is half the diameter of the closed flux surface at a given radial position, and a is half the diameter of the last closed flux surface). Local linear stability analysis with experimental equilibrium quantities at these two radial locations using the GS2 gyrokinetic code shows that the most unstable ion-scale micro-instability is the ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode. Since the computed maximum ion-scale linear growth rates are larger than the local Waltz-Miller E × B shearing rate (Waltz and Miller 1999 Phys. Plasmas 6 4265), the E × B shear is unable to suppress ion-scale turbulence, consistent with the experimental observation of ion-scale turbulence. Experimental ion and electron thermal transports, calculated with power balance analysis, are both anomalous with ion thermal transport being the dominant channel. Nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations using the electrostatic global particle-in-cell gyrokinetic tokamak simulation (GTS) code (Weixing Wang et al 2010 Phys. Plasmas 17 072511) show good quantitative agreement between predicted ion thermal transport and that from the power balance analysis. These results demonstrate for the first time the important role of ITG turbulence in driving thermal transport in NBI-heated L-mode plasmas in EAST, showing the effectiveness of GTS code in simulating electrostatic turbulence in EAST and the need of suppressing ITG turbulence to improve energy confinement in EAST.

Sun, P. J. [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Hef↗

DOE OSTI2018

Room-temperature cycling of metal fluoride electrodes: Liquid electrolytes for high-energy fluoride ion cells

Fluoride ion batteries are potential “next-generation” electrochemical storage devices that offer high energy density. At present, such batteries are limited to operation at high temperatures because suitable fluoride ion–conducting electrolytes are known only in the solid state. We report a liquid fluoride ion–conducting electrolyte with high ionic conductivity, wide operating voltage, and robust chemical stability based on dry tetraalkylammonium fluoride salts in ether solvents. Pairing this liquid electrolyte with a copper–lanthanum trifluoride (Cu@LaF 3 ) core-shell cathode, we demonstrate reversible fluorination and defluorination reactions in a fluoride ion electrochemical cell cycled at room temperature. Fluoride ion–mediated electrochemistry offers a pathway toward developing capacities beyond that of lithium ion technology.

Davis, Victoria K.↗

DOE OSTI2019

Stochastic Ion Acceleration by the Ion-cyclotron Instability in a Growing Magnetic Field

Using 1D and 2D particle-in-cell simulations of a plasma with a growing magnetic field ${\boldsymbol{B}}$, we show herein that ions can be stochastically accelerated by the ion-cyclotron (IC) instability. As ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ grows, an ion pressure anisotropy ${p}_{\perp ,i}\gt {p}_{| | ,i}$ arises due to the adiabatic invariance of the ion magnetic moment (${p}_{| | ,i}$ and $p_{⊥,i}$ are the ion pressures parallel and perpendicular to ${\boldsymbol{B}}$). When initially $β_ i$ = 0.5 (${\beta }_{i}\equiv 8\pi {p}_{i}/| {\boldsymbol{B}}{| }^{2}$, where $p_i$ is the ion isotropic pressure), the pressure anisotropy is limited mainly by inelastic pitch-angle scattering provided by the IC instability, which in turn produces a nonthermal tail in the ion energy spectrum. After ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ is amplified by a factor of ~2.7, this tail can be approximated as a power law of index ~3.4 plus two nonthermal bumps and accounts for 2%–3% of the ions and ~18% of their kinetic energy. On the contrary, when initially $β_i$ = 2, the ion scattering is dominated by the mirror instability, and the acceleration is suppressed. This implies that efficient ion acceleration requires that initially, $β_{i} \lesssim$ 1. Although we focus on cases where ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ is amplified by plasma shear, we check that the acceleration occurs similarly if ${\boldsymbol{B}}$ grows due to plasma compression. Our results are valid in a subrelativistic regime where the ion thermal energy is ~10% of the ion rest-mass energy. This acceleration process can thus be relevant in the inner region of low-luminosity accretion flows around black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗