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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 379 records · Page 21

General Kinetic Model for pH Dependence of Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer: Application to an Electrochemical Water Oxidation System

The pH dependence of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions, which are critical to many chemical and biological processes, is a powerful probe for elucidating their fundamental mechanisms. Herein, a general, multichannel kinetic model is introduced to describe the pH dependence of both homogeneous and electrochemical PCET reactions. According to this model, a weak pH dependence can arise from the competition among multiple sequential and concerted PCET channels involving different forms of the redox species, such as protonated and deprotonated forms, as well as different proton donors and acceptors. The contribution of each channel is influenced by the relative populations of the reactant species, which often depend strongly on pH, leading to complex pH dependence of PCET apparent rate constants. This model is used to explain the origins of the experimentally observed weak pH dependence of the electrochemical PCET apparent rate constant for a ruthenium-based water oxidation catalyst attached to a tin-doped In2O3 (ITO) surface. The weak pH dependence is found to arise from the intrinsic differences in the rate constants of participating channels and the dependence of their relative contributions on pH. This model predicts that the apparent maximum rate constant will become pH-independent at higher pH, which is confirmed by experimental measurements. Our analysis also suggests that the dominant channels are electron transfer at lower pH and sequential PCET via electron transfer followed by fast proton transfer at higher pH. Furthermore, this work highlights the importance of considering multiple competing channels simultaneously for PCET processes.

Catalysts↗

Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Mechanisms for CO 2 Reduction to Methanol Catalyzed by Surface-Immobilized Cobalt Phthalocyanine

Immobilized cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) is a highly promising architecture for the six-proton, six-electron reduction of CO 2 to methanol. This electroreduction process relies on proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions that can occur by sequential or concerted mechanisms. Immobilization on a conductive support such as carbon nanotubes or graphitic flakes can fundamentally alter the PCET mechanisms. We use density functional theory (DFT) calculations of CoPc adsorbed on an explicit graphitic surface model to investigate intermediates in the electroreduction of CO 2 to methanol. Our calculations show that the alignment of the CoPc and graphitic electronic states influences the reductive chemistry. These calculations also distinguish between charging the graphitic surface and reducing the CoPc and adsorbed intermediates as electrons are added to the system. This analysis allows us to identify the chemical transformations that are likely to be concerted PCET, defined for these systems as the mechanism in which protonation of a CO 2 reduction intermediate is accompanied by electron abstraction from the graphitic surface to the adsorbate without thermodynamically stable intermediates. Furthermore, this work establishes a mechanistic pathway for methanol production that is consistent with experimental observations and provides fundamental insight into how immobilization of the CoPc impacts its CO 2 reduction chemistry.

Adsorption↗

Equation of motion coupled cluster methods for electron attachment and ionization potential in fullerenes C{sub 60} and C{sub 70}

In both molecular and periodic solid-state systems there is a need for the accurate determination of the ionization potential and the electron affinity for systems ranging from light harvesting polymers and photocatalytic compounds to semiconductors. The development of a Green's function approach based on the coupled cluster (CC) formalism would be a valuable tool for addressing many properties involving many-body interactions along with their associated correlation functions. As a first step in this direction, we have developed an accurate and parallel efficient approach based on the equation of motion-CC technique. To demonstrate the high degree of accuracy and numerical efficiency of our approach we calculate the ionization potential and electron affinity for C{sub 60} and C{sub 70}. Accurate predictions for these molecules are well beyond traditional molecular scale studies. We compare our results with experiments and both quantum Monte Carlo and GW calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Description of spin–orbit coupling in excited states with two-component methods based on approximate coupled-cluster theory

A generalization of the approximated coupled-cluster singles and doubles method and the algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme up to second order to two-component spinors obtained from a relativistic Hartree–Fock calculation is reported. Computational results for zero-field splittings of atoms and monoatomic cations, triplet lifetimes of two organic molecules, and the spin-forbidden part of the UV/Vis absorption spectrum of tris(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) are presented.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Similarity-transformed perturbation theory on top of truncated local coupled cluster solutions: Theory and applications to intermolecular interactions

Your correspondents develop and apply fully nonorthogonal, local-reference perturbation theories describing non-covalent interactions. Our formulations are based on a Löwdin partitioning of the similarity-transformed Hamiltonian into a zeroth-order intramonomer piece (taking local CCSD solutions as its zeroth-order eigenfunction) plus a first-order piece coupling the fragments. If considerations are limited to a single molecule, the proposed intermolecular similarity-transformed perturbation theory represents a frozen-orbital variant of the “(2)”-type theories shown to be competitive with CCSD(T) and of similar cost if all terms are retained. Different restrictions on the zeroth- and first-order amplitudes are explored in the context of large-computation tractability and elucidation of non-local effects in the space of singles and doubles. To accurately approximate CCSD intermolecular interaction energies, a quadratically growing number of variables must be included at zeroth-order.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

An atomic orbital-based formulation of analytical gradients and nonadiabatic coupling vector elements for the state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field method on graphical processing units

We recently presented an algorithm for state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) orbital optimization that capitalizes on sparsity in the atomic orbital basis set to reduce the scaling of computational effort with respect to molecular size. Here, we extend those algorithms to calculate the analytic gradient and nonadiabatic coupling vectors for SA-CASSCF. Combining the low computational scaling with acceleration from graphical processing units allows us to perform SA-CASSCF geometry optimizations for molecules with more than 1000 atoms. The new approach will make minimal energy conical intersection searches and nonadiabatic dynamics routine for molecular systems with O(10{sup 2}) atoms.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Comparing State-Space Multivariable Controls to Multi-SISO Controls for Load Reduction of Drivetrain-Coupled Modes on Wind Turbines Through Field-Testing

In this paper we present results from an ongoing controller comparison study at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The intention of the study is to demonstrate the advantage of using modern multivariable methods for designing control systems for wind turbines versus conventional approaches. We will demonstrate the advantages through field-test results from experimental turbines located at the NWTC. At least two controllers are being developed side-by-side to meet an incrementally increasing number of turbine load-reduction objectives. The first, a multiple single-input, single-output (m-SISO) approach, uses separately developed decoupled and classicially tuned controllers, which is, to the best of our knowledge, common practice in the wind industry. The remaining controllers are developed using state-space multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) techniques to explicity account for coupling between loops and to optimize given known frequency structures of the turbine and disturbance. In this first publication from the study, we present the structure of the ongoing controller comparison experiment, the design process for the two controllers compared in this phase, and initial comparison results obtained in field-testing.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Experimental and Computational Analysis of the Solvent‐Dependent O 2 /Li + ‐O 2 − Redox Couple: Standard Potentials, Coupling Strength, and Implications for Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

Abstract Understanding and controlling the kinetics of O 2 reduction in the presence of Li + ‐containing aprotic solvents, to either Li + ‐O 2 − by one‐electron reduction or Li 2 O 2 by two‐electron reduction, is instrumental to enhance the discharge voltage and capacity of aprotic Li‐O 2 batteries. Standard potentials of O 2 /Li + ‐O 2 − and O 2 /O 2 − were experimentally measured and computed using a mixed cluster‐continuum model of ion solvation. Increasing combined solvation of Li + and O 2 − was found to lower the coupling of Li + ‐O 2 − and the difference between O 2 /Li + ‐O 2 − and O 2 /O 2 − potentials. The solvation energy of Li + trended with donor number (DN), and varied greater than that of O 2 − ions, which correlated with acceptor number (AN), explaining a previously reported correlation between Li + ‐O 2 − solubility and DN. These results highlight the importance of the interplay between ion–solvent and ion–ion interactions for manipulating the energetics of intermediate species produced in aprotic metal–oxygen batteries.

Kwabi, David G.↗

Experimental and Computational Analysis of the Solvent‐Dependent O 2 /Li + ‐O 2 − Redox Couple: Standard Potentials, Coupling Strength, and Implications for Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

Abstract Understanding and controlling the kinetics of O 2 reduction in the presence of Li + ‐containing aprotic solvents, to either Li + ‐O 2 − by one‐electron reduction or Li 2 O 2 by two‐electron reduction, is instrumental to enhance the discharge voltage and capacity of aprotic Li‐O 2 batteries. Standard potentials of O 2 /Li + ‐O 2 − and O 2 /O 2 − were experimentally measured and computed using a mixed cluster‐continuum model of ion solvation. Increasing combined solvation of Li + and O 2 − was found to lower the coupling of Li + ‐O 2 − and the difference between O 2 /Li + ‐O 2 − and O 2 /O 2 − potentials. The solvation energy of Li + trended with donor number (DN), and varied greater than that of O 2 − ions, which correlated with acceptor number (AN), explaining a previously reported correlation between Li + ‐O 2 − solubility and DN. These results highlight the importance of the interplay between ion–solvent and ion–ion interactions for manipulating the energetics of intermediate species produced in aprotic metal–oxygen batteries.

Kwabi, David G.↗