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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1971

Studies of the acidic components of the Colorado Green River formation oil shale-Mass spectrometric identification of the methyl esters of extractable acids.

Study of solvent extractable acidic constituents of oil shale from the Colorado Green River Formation. Identification of individual components is based on gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric data obtained for their respective methyl esters. Normal acids, isoprenoidal acids, alpha, omega-dicarboxylic acids, mono-alpha-methyl dicarboxylic acids and methyl ketoacids were identified. In addition, the presence of monocyclic, benzoic, phenylalkanoic and naphthyl-carboxylic acids, as well as cycloaromatic acids, is demonstrated by partial identification.

Haug, P.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Traceable atomic force microscopy of high-quality solvent-free crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C{sub 61}-butyric acid methyl ester

We report high-resolution, traceable atomic force microscopy measurements of high-quality, solvent-free single crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). These were grown by drop-casting PCBM solutions onto the spectrosil substrates and by removing the residual solvent in a vacuum. A home-built atomic force microscope featuring a plane mirror differential optical interferometer, fiber-fed from a frequency-stabilized laser (emitting at 632.8 nm), was used to measure the crystals' height. The optical interferometer together with the stabilized laser provides traceability (via the laser wavelength) of the vertical measurements made with the atomic force microscope. We find that the crystals can conform to the surface topography, thanks to their height being significantly smaller compared to their lateral dimensions (namely, heights between about 50 nm and 140 nm, for the crystals analysed, vs. several tens of microns lateral dimensions). The vast majority of the crystals are flat, but an isolated, non-flat crystal provides insights into the growth mechanism and allows identification of “molecular terraces” whose height corresponds to one of the lattice constants of the single PCBM crystal (1.4 nm) as measured with X-ray diffraction.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Graphene composite for improvement in the conversion efficiency of flexible poly 3-hexyl-thiophene:[6,6]-phenyl C{sub 71} butyric acid methyl ester polymer solar cells

The solution of thin graphene-sheets obtained from a simple ultrasonic exfoliation process was found to chemically interact with [6,6]-phenyl C{sub 71} butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) molecules. The thinner graphene-sheets have significantly altered the positions of highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of PCBM, which is beneficial for the enhancement of the open circuit voltage of the solar cells. Flexible bulk heterojunction solar cells fabricated using poly 3-hexylthiophene (P3HT):PCBM-graphene exhibited a power conversion efficiency of 2.51%, which is a ∼2-fold increase as compared to those fabricated using P3HT:PCBM. Inclusion of graphene-sheets not only improved the open-circuit voltage but also enhanced the short-circuit current density owing to an improved electron transport.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

A novel approach for the characterization of a bilayer of phenyl-c71-butyric-acid-methyl ester and pentacene using ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and argon gas cluster ion beam sputtering process

The material arrangement and energy level alignment of an organic bilayer comprising of phenyl-c71-butyric-acid-methyl ester (PCBM-71) and pentacene were studied using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and the argon gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) sputtering process. Although there is a small difference in the full width at half maximum of the carbon C 1s core level peaks and differences in the oxygen O 1s core levels of an X-ray photoemission spectroscopy spectra, these differences are insufficient to clearly distinguish between PCBM-71 and pentacene layers and to classify the interface and bulk regions. On the other hand, the valence band structures in the UPS spectra contain completely distinct configurations for the PCBM-71 and pentacene layers, even when they have similar atomic compositions. According to the valence band structures of the PCBM-71/pentacene/electrodes, the highest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO) region of pentacene is at least 0.8 eV closer to the Fermi level than that of PCBM-71 and it does not overlap with any of the chemical states in the valence band structure of PCBM-71. Therefore, by just following the variations in the area of the HOMO region of pentacene, the interface/bulk regions of the PCBM/pentacene layers were distinctly categorized. Besides, the variation of valence band structures as a function of the Ar GCIB sputtering time fully corroborated with the surface morphologies observed in the atomic force microscope images. In summary, we believe that the novel approach, which involves UPS analysis in conjunction with Ar GCIB sputtering, can be one of the best methods to characterize the material distribution and energy level alignments of stacks of organic layers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Broadband gain in poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C{sub 61}-butyric-acid-methyl-ester photodetectors enabled by a semicontinuous gold interlayer

Substantial broadband photoconductive gain has been realized for organic, thin-film photodetectors with a poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C{sub 61}-butyric-acid-methyl-ester (P3HT:PCBM) active layer at low bias voltages. External quantum efficiencies upwards of 1500% were achieved when a semicontinuous gold layer was introduced at the anode interface. Significant gain was also observed in the sub-band gap, near infrared region where the external quantum efficiency approached 100% despite the lack of a sensitizer. The gain response was highly dependent on the thickness of the active layer of the photodetector with the best results achieved with the thinnest devices. The gain is the result of the injection of secondary electrons due to hole charge trapping at the semicontinuous gold layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Negative polarity of phenyl-C{sub 61} butyric acid methyl ester adjacent to donor macromolecule domains

Interfacial fields within organic photovoltaics influence the movement of free charge carriers, including exciton dissociation and recombination. Open circuit voltage (V{sub oc}) can also be dependent on the interfacial fields, in the event that they modulate the energy gap between donor HOMO and acceptor LUMO. A rise in the vacuum level of the acceptor will increase the gap and the V{sub oc}, which can be beneficial for device efficiency. Here, we measure the interfacial potential differences at donor-acceptor junctions using Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy, and quantify how much of the potential difference originates from physical contact between the donor and acceptor. We see a statistically significant and pervasive negative polarity on the phenyl-C{sub 61} butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) side of PCBM/donor junctions, which should also be present at the complex interfaces in bulk heterojunctions. This potential difference may originate from molecular dipoles, interfacial interactions with donor materials, and/or equilibrium charge transfer due to the higher work function and electron affinity of PCBM. We show that the contact between PCBM and poly(3-hexylthiophene) doubles the interfacial potential difference, a statistically significant difference. Control experiments determined that this potential difference was not due to charges trapped in the underlying substrate. The direction of the observed potential difference would lead to increased V{sub oc}, but would also pose a barrier to electrons being injected into the PCBM and make recombination more favorable. Our method may allow unique information to be obtained in new donor-acceptor junctions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Methyl esters of 2-aminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylic acids decorated with trifluoromethyl-containing heterocycles

Methyl 2-aminothiophene-3-carboxylates were modified with trifluoromethyl-containing five-membered heterocycles by cyclocondensation of methyl trifluoropyruvate N-thiophen-2-ylimines with 1,3-N,N-binucleophiles (2-aminothiazoline and benzamidines) to obtain the corresponding 5-oxo-6-trifluoromethyl-2,3,5,6-tetrahydroimidazoles and 5-oxo-2-phenyl-4-trifluoromethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazoles. Radioligand binding was used to study the in fluence of the synthesized compounds on the neuronal NMDA receptors.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate catalyzed in-situ transesterification of Nannochloropsis to fatty acid methyl esters

We report 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([Bmim][HSO 4 ]) is used as a solvent and an acid catalyst for in-situ extractive transesterification of wet Nannochloropsis with methanol. The reaction is supposed to be a five-step process: (1) wet algae cell wall dissolves in ionic liquid at reaction temperatures; (2) hydrogen ions and sulfate ions release from the ionization of HSO 4 - . The hydrogen ions (H+) act as catalysts for accelerating the reactive extraction of triglyceride from wet Nannochloropsis; (3) hydrogen ions and methanol molecules transfer from bulk to active site of cells without passing through cell wall that is dissolved by ionic liquid; (4) in-situ transesterification of lipid (mainly triglycerides) with methanol; and (5) products transfer from inside of algae cells to outside of cells. The crude biodiesel yield of [Bmim][HSO 4 ] catalyzed in-situ transesterification is about 95.28% at reaction temperature of 200 °C, reaction time of 30 min, mass ratio of [Bmim][HSO4] to wet Nannochloropsis of 0.9:1, and a mass ratio of methanol to wet algae of 3:1. It decreases to 81.23% after [Bmim][HSO 4 ] is recycled for 4 times, which indicates that [Bmim][HSO 4 ] catalyzed in-situ transesterification is an economic approach for biodiesel production from wet algae.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence and Fluorescence Lifetime Spatial Heterogeneity of Poly (2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene) in Presence of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric Acid Methyl Ester

In this paper, we studied the luminescence property and fluorescence lifetime mapping of MEH-PPV/PCBM system by using electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) and time-correlated single photo counting (TC-SPC) technologies. The ECL results showed that the oxidation peak of MEH-PPV near 0.7 V (vs. SCE) and ECL response of films shifted positively towards 1.2 V when in the presence of PCBM. At the same time, the oxidation peak current density of MEH-PPV increases while the ECL response decreased with the loading of PCBM in the composite films. The fluorescence lifetime images clearly show that the lifetime fluctuation is effected by different substrates and MEH-PPV/PCBM ratios. Meanwhile, the lifetime of MEH-PPV decreases with the increasing of film thickness. The lifetimes of MEH-PPV films on TiO2 substrate are lower than them of films on cover slips.

Chemiluminescence↗