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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 325 records · Page 18

Chemical Synthesis of 3D Graphene-Like Cages for Sodium-Ion Batteries Applications

Sodium (Na) super ion conductor structured Na3V2(PO4)3 (NVP) is extensively explored as cathode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its large interstitial channels for Na+ migration. The synthesis of 3D graphene-like structure coated on NVP nanoflakes arrays via a one-pot, solid-state reaction in molten hydrocarbon is reported. The NVP nanoflakes are uniformly coated by the in situ generated 3D graphene-like layers with the thickness of 3 nm. As a cathode material, graphene covered NVP nanoflakes exhibit excellent electrochemical performances, including close to theoretical reversible capacity (115.2 mA h g-1 at 1 C), superior rate capability (75.9 mA h g-1 at 200 C), and excellent cyclic stability (62.5% of capacity retention over 30000 cycles at 50 C). Furthermore, the 3D graphene-like cages after removing NVP also serve as a good anode material and deliver a specific capacity of 242.5 mA h g-1 at 0.1 A g-1. The full SIB using these two cathode and anode materials delivers a high specific capacity (109.2 mA h g-1 at 0.1 A g-1) and good cycling stability (77.1% capacity retention over 200 cycles at 0.1 A g-1).

Cao, Xinxin↗

A program for automatically predicting supramolecular aggregates and its application to urea and porphin [A programme for the automated geometry prediction of supra-molecular aggregates and its application to the examples of urea and porphin]

Not only the molecular structure but also the presence or absence of aggregates determines many properties of organic materials. Theoretical investigation of such aggregates requires the prediction of a suitable set of diverse structures. Here, we present the open–source program EnergyScan for the unbiased prediction of geometrically diverse sets of small aggregates. Its bottom–up approach is complementary to existing ones by performing a detailed scan of an aggregate's potential energy surface, from which diverse local energy minima are selected. We crossvalidate this approach by predicting both literature–known and heretofore unreported geometries of the urea dimer. We also predict a diverse set of dimers of the less intensely studied case of porphin, which we investigate further using quantum chemistry. For several dimers, we find strong deviations from a reference absorption spectrum, which we explain using computed transition densities. Furthermore, this proof of principle clearly shows that EnergyScan successfully predicts aggregates exhibiting large structural and spectral diversity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Event detection and sub-state discovery from biomolecular simulations using higher-order statistics: Application to enzyme adenylate kinase

Biomolecular simulations at millisecond and longer time-scales can provide vital insights into functional mechanisms. Because post-simulation analyses of such large trajectory datasets can be a limiting factor in obtaining biological insights, there is an emerging need to identify key dynamical events and relating these events to the biological function online, that is, as simulations are progressing. Recently, we have introduced a novel computational technique, quasi-anharmonic analysis (QAA) (Ramanathan et al., PLoS One 2011;6:e15827), for partitioning the conformational landscape into a hierarchy of functionally relevant sub-states. The unique capabilities of QAA are enabled by exploiting anharmonicity in the form of fourth-order statistics for characterizing atomic fluctuations. In this article, we extend QAA for analyzing long time-scale simulations online. In particular, we present HOST4MD—a higher-order statistical toolbox for molecular dynamics simulations, which (1) identifies key dynamical events as simulations are in progress, (2) explores potential sub-states, and (3) identifies conformational transitions that enable the protein to access those sub-states. We demonstrate HOST4MD on microsecond timescale simulations of the enzyme adenylate kinase in its apo state. HOST4MD identifies several conformational events in these simulations, revealing how the intrinsic coupling between the three subdomains (LID, CORE, and NMP) changes during the simulations. Further, it also identifies an inherent asymmetry in the opening/closing of the two binding sites. We anticipate that HOST4MD will provide a powerful and extensible framework for detecting biophysically relevant conformational coordinates from long time-scale simulations.

Ramanathan, Arvind↗

Application of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model to Study Theophylline Metabolism and Its Interactions With Ciprofloxacin and Caffeine: Application of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic

Theophylline is a commonly used bronchodilator. However, due to its narrow therapeutic range, moderate elevation of serum concentration can result in adverse drug reactions (ADRs). ADRs occur because of interhuman pharmacokinetic variability and interactions with coprescribed medicines. We developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of theophylline, caffeine, and ciprofloxacin metabolisms to: examine theophylline pharmacokinetic variability, and predict population-level outcomes of drug–drug interactions (DDIs). A simulation-based equation for personalized dosing of theophylline was derived. Simulations of DDI show that calculated personalized doses are safe even after cotreatment with large doses of strong inhibitors. Simulations of adult populations indicate that the elderly are most susceptible to ADRs stemming from theophylline–ciprofloxacin and theophylline–caffeine interactions. Females, especially Asians, due to their smaller average size, are more susceptible to DDI-induced ADRs following typical dosing practices. Our simulations also show that the higher adipose and lower muscle fractions in females significantly alter the pharmacokinetics of theophylline or ciprofloxacin.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Immersed Boundary Method Halo Exchange in a Hemodynamics Application

In recent years, highly parallelized simulations of blood flow resolving individual blood cells have been demonstrated. Simulating such dense suspensions of deformable particles in flow often involves a partitioned fluid-structure interaction (FSI) algorithm, with separate solvers for Eulerian fluid and Lagrangian cell grids, plus a solver - e.g., immersed boundary method - for their interaction. Managing data motion in parallel FSI implementations is increasingly important, particularly for inhomogeneous systems like vascular geometries. In this study, we evaluate the influence of Eulerian and Lagrangian halo exchanges on efficiency and scalability of a partitioned FSI algorithm for blood flow. We describe an MPI+OpenMP implementation of the immersed boundary method coupled with lattice Boltzmann and finite element methods. We consider how communication and recomputation costs influence the optimization of halo exchanges with respect to three factors: immersed boundary interaction distance, cell suspension density, and relative fluid/cell solver costs.

Gounley, John↗