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At least 397 records · Page 22

Theory of Nonlinear Diffusion with a Physical Gapped Mode

In a system with one conserved charge the charge diffusion is modified by nonlinear self-interactions within an effective field theory (EFT) of diffusive fluctuations. We include the slowest ultraviolet (UV) mode, constructing a UV-regulated EFT. The relaxation time of this UV mode is protected from renormalization, as supported by experimental data in a bad metal system. Furthermore, the retarded density-density Green’s function acquires four branch points, eventually increasing the range of applicability. We discuss the fate of long time tails as well as implications for the quark gluon plasma. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Physics↗

Prediction of Climate-Specific Degradation Rate for Photovoltaic Encapsulant Discoloration

Encapsulant discoloration is a well-known field degradation mode of crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules, particularly in the hot climate zones. The discoloration rate is influenced by several weathering factors, such as UV light, module temperature, and humidity, as well as the permeability of oxygen into the module. Here, a rate dependence model employing the modified Arrhenius equations to predict the degradation rate for encapsulant discoloration in different climates is presented. Two modeling approaches are introduced, which utilize the field and accelerated UV testing degradation data in conjunction with the field meteorological data to determine the acceleration factor for encapsulant browning. A novel method of accelerated UV stress testing at three simultaneous module temperatures in a single environmental chamber test run is implemented to estimate the activation energy for browning. The test was performed on three field-retrieved modules to capture the wear-out failure mechanism. The degradation in short-circuit current Isc rather than maximum power is used as a decisive parameter for the discoloration analysis. Furthermore, the developed model has been used to predict the Isc degradation rate for the Arizona field characterized by a hot and dry climate and is validated against the field-measured value. It has also been applied to other climate types, e.g., the cold and dry climate of New York.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

A Custom High-Throughput Optical Mapping Instrument for Accelerated Stress Testing of PV Module Materials

The performance and integrity of photovoltaic (PV) modules and materials may be assessed through optical characterizations. We have developed a custom optical mapping instrument (OMI) to improve measurement throughput time, facilitate automated measurements, allow for localized specimen examination, obtain spatial information relative to commercial benchtop spectrophotometer instruments, and provide automated data analysis. Both the key components and the methods used to improve the measurements are described. The measurement precision for the OMI is benchmarked for hemispherical transmittance relative to a previous round-robin study for commercial spectrophotometers. In addition to the unique instrument developed in this study, new insights have emerged from the examination of specimens from previous experiments, including: the depletion of the UV absorber is revealed for specimens beyond a certain size after artificial ultraviolet (UV) weathering; an optical degradation by internal haze formation is confirmed following Damp Heat (85 °C/85% relative humidity) testing; the better uniformity of the wear pattern for falling sand abrasion is used to select the DIN 52348 fixture over the ASTM D968 fixture; and the greater local (in the order of millimeters) heterogeneity of surface contamination in the soiling-prone location of Dubai relative to Kuwait. The results of the UV study have already been used to improve the standardized weathering of encapsulants. The example for Damp Heat testing is given to increase awareness of a degradation believed to be ubiquitously occurring in safety and design-type qualification testing of PV modules.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Investigating the Crosslinking, Degradation, and Adhesion Behavior of Photovoltaic Encapsulants Under Thermal Accelerated Aging

Degradation of photovoltaic (PV) module encapsulant characteristics that lead to mechanical embrittlement and delamination remains a cause of failure in solar installations. A multiscale reliability model connecting the encapsulant mechanical and fracture properties to the degraded molecular structure and interfacial bonding to adjacent solar cell and glass substrates was previously published. The model, developed primarily for poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) acetate (EVA) encapsulants, remains to be experimentally validated. Determining the degradation and crosslinking kinetics of alternative encapsulants, such as polyolefin elastomer (POE) and EVA/POE/EVA composites (EPE), can generalize the model. In this work, we subject fully cured EVA, POE, and EPE encapsulants to accelerated thermal aging to determine how high temperatures impact reaction kinetics. An increase in gel content (crosslinking) and decrease in crystallinity of the encapsulants under hot-aerobic (90 degrees C, 22% RH) and hot-anaerobic (90 degrees C, sealed in N 2 air) aging were observed, even in the absence of UV and crosslinking initiators. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)-attenuated total reflectance analysis showed insignificant encapsulant degradation, demonstrating the critical role of UV and moisture in accelerating degradation. Adhesion testing performed on coupon-level specimens (cell/encapsulant/glass laminates) showed decreases in adhesion energy, Gc , from 5000 h of hot-dry (90 degrees C, ~1% RH) and hot-humid (90 degrees C, 60% RH) aging. POE coupons demonstrated the best stability, followed by EPE then EVA. For EVA and POE, hot-humid aged coupons experienced a larger decrease in Gc due to enhanced hydrolytic degradation. Hot-dry aging condition demonstrated that thermal degradation of the interface could be significant even if the encapsulant experiences negligible degradation in the absence of UV and elevated humidity.

accelerated aging↗

Evaluation of PV Module Packaging Strategies of Monofacial and Bifacial PERC Using Degradation Pathway Network Modeling

As the PV industry is rapidly expanding, it is important to thoroughly investigate the long-term impact of packaging strategies on the performance of PV modules. In this study, the variants in sets differ on the basis of manufacturer (A/B), encapsulant (EVA/POE), rear encapsulant (UV-cutoff/opaque/transparent), module architecture (GB/DG) and cell type (monofacial/bifacial). The minimodules were exposed for 2520 hours in modified damp heat, with or without full spectrum light. Every 504 hours, stepwise electrical characterization techniques were employed to track changes in minimodules. Degradation pathway modeling using network structural equation modeling was employed to study pairwise relationships between variables and service lifetime prediction in minimodules. Through this study, differences in quality control are identified in minimodules made by different manufacturers. Minimodules with UV-cutoff rear encapsulant show relatively better stability, whereas the ones with opaque rear encapsulant show greater power loss. In addition, GB having UV-cutoff rear encapsulation and GB with POE having opaque rear encapsulation were identified to be stable as they lack a best model fit. Here, the primary power loss mechanism in degrading variants is interconnect corrosion.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Identifying Bounds of Inorganic Content in Solventless Processing of Hybrid Solid Electrolytes

Solid-state lithium batteries require safe, robust electrolytes to enable higher energy densities and improved safety over conventional cells. Hybrid polymer–ceramic electrolytes are a promising solution, combining the processability of polymers with the high ionic conductivity and mechanical strength of inorganic fillers. In this work, we demonstrate a solventless, UV-curing method to produce hybrid solid electrolytes using a poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether (PEGDME)-based photocurable matrix incorporating Li 1.5 Al 0.5 Ge 1.5 (PO 4 ) 3 (LAGP) or Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 (LLZO) ceramic electrolyte. Inorganic filler loadings up to ∼55 wt.% could be successfully incorporated via this process which was the highest inorganic content at which the slurry remains processable and cured into a uniform film. The resulting UV-cured composite electrolytes remain flexible and exhibit room-temperature ionic conductivities on the order of 10 −4 S·cm −1 , along with notably improved lithium-ion transference numbers compared to conventional polymer electrolytes. Similar performance and processing limits were observed for both LAGP and LLZO, indicating that ceramic filler chemistry does not significantly affect the UV-curing process or the electrolyte's ion transport properties in this regime. Eliminating solvents from fabrication not only simplifies processing and mitigates environmental concerns but also enables higher solid contents that enhance mechanical strength and help suppress lithium dendrite formation. In conclusion, this scalable approach thus paves the way for manufacturing robust composite solid electrolytes for next-generation solid-state batteries (SSBs).

Batteries↗

Misanthropic entropy and renormalization as a communication channel

A central physical question is the extent to which infrared (IR) observations are sufficient to reconstruct a candidate ultraviolet (UV) completion. We recast this question as a problem of communication, with messages encoded in field configurations of the UV being transmitted to the IR degrees of freedom via a noisy channel specified by renormalization group (RG) flow, with noise generated by coarse graining/decimation. We present an explicit formulation of these considerations in terms of lattice field theory, where we show that the “misanthropic entropy” — the mutual information obtained from decimating neighbors — encodes the extent to which information is lost in marginalizing over/tracing out UV degrees of freedom. Our considerations apply both to statistical field theories as well as density matrix renormalization of quantum systems, where in the quantum case, the statistical field theory analysis amounts to a leading-order approximation. As a concrete example, we focus on the case of the 2D Ising model, where we show that the misanthropic entropy detects the onset of the phase transition at the Ising model critical point.

Physics↗

Synergistic effects of Al, Ga, and In doping on ZnO nanorod arrays grown via citrate-assisted hydrothermal technique for highly efficient and fast scintillator screens

To be used as efficient alpha particle scintillator in the fields of nuclear security, nuclear nonproliferation and high-energy physics, scintillator screens must have high light output and fast decay properties. While there has been a great deal of progress in scintillation efficiency, achieving fast decay time properties are still a challenge. In this work, the near band edge (NBE) UV luminescence and alpha particle induced scintillation properties of vertically aligned densely packed ZnO nanorods (NRs) doped with Al, Ga, and In have been thoroughly investigated. The high crystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure with a strong orientation through the c -axis plane (002) and aspect ratios in the range 13–22 have been observed for all ZnO NRs. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis exhibited paramagnetic signals at g ≈ 1.96 for all ZnO NRs. A cost effective green hydrothermal synthesis technique was employed to grow well-aligned NRs. Using citrate as an additive acting as a strong reducing agent in the solution during the crystal growth, defects on the surface are significantly suppressed, thereby enhancing the NBE UV emission. Significantly higher NBE UV emission was observed from the top surface of ZnO NRs in cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy. Results show that citrate assisted donor doping of ZnO NRs not only reduces the defect emission and NBE self-absorption, but also induces fast decay time (~ 600–700 ps), which makes ZnO NRs a good candidate for fast alpha particle scintillator screens used in associated particle imaging for time and direction tagging of individual neutrons generated in D–T and D–D neutron generators.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

ORNL_AISD-Ex: Quantum chemical prediction of UV/Vis absorption spectra for over 10 million organic molecules

We performed calculations of electronic excitation energies and associated oscillator strengths based on the time-dependent density-functional tight-binding (TD-DFTB) method [1]. The SMILES (Simplified molecular-input line-entry system) strings of the molecules from the AISD HOMO-LUMO database [2] were converted to a 3D atomistic structure and stored in a PDB file after preliminary geometry optimization using the Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF94) in RDKit [3,4]. The primary information stored in the PDB file archive consists of Cartesian coordinates for each atom of the molecule in their 3D location in space, along with summary information about the structure, sequence, and experiment. We then performed molecular geometry optimization using the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method [5] in the electronic ground state, followed by single-point excited states calculations, as described below. We note that, since RDKit employs a random choice for the generation of molecular conformers, the molecular geometries obtained in this dataset could be different from the ones that were generated when the AISD HOMO-LUMO dataset was generated. The computed excitation energies and associated oscillator strengths can be converted to predict UV/Vis absorption spectra, where excitation energies correspond to absorption peak positions, and oscillator strengths are a good measure of the probability of absorption of visible or UV light in transitions between electronic ground and excited states. The conversion of SMILES strings to 3D Cartesian coordinates of fully DFTB-optimized molecules was successful for 10,502,904 out of 10,502,917 molecules. For these molecules, both geometry optimizations and excited states calculations were successful. The DFTB calculations did not complete for 13 molecules of the original AISD HOMO-LUMO dataset. We still provide information about the geometry of these molecules. The molecules are diverse for chemical compositions (which span 5 non-hydrogen elements: oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, sulfur) and molecular size (the smallest molecule contains 5 non-hydrogen atoms, and the largest molecule contains 71 non-hydrogen atoms). The DFTB method [5] is an approximation to density functional theory (DFT), utilizing a minimal basis set in conjunction with a two-center approximation to the electronic Hamiltonian and overlap matrix elements. The DFTB total energy is the sum of an electronic and a repulsive energy contribution, and their calculation requires optimized electronic parameters and diatomic repulsive potential energy functions. All DFTB calculations were performed using the DFTB+ code [6] (version 21.2) and the wrapper for DFTB+ in the Atomic Simulation Environment (ASE) (version 3.22.1) [7], which performed an internal conversion of Cartesian coordinates from PDB to the .gen file format. For the geometry optimizations on the electronic ground state potential energy surface of the molecules, we have chosen the third-order DFTB (DFTB3) method [5c] and employed the matching 3ob set of electronic parameters and repulsive potentials [8]. The empirical γ-damping for hydrogen bond correction, and Grimme's D3 empirical dispersion correction with Becke-Johnson damping (D3(BJ)) [9] dispersion correction was included to improve the description of non-covalent interactions. For excited states single-point energy calculations, we employed the TD-DFTB method in conjunction with the DFTB2 method [5b] and the matching mio [5b,10] and halorg [11] parameter sets. We opted to request the simultaneous calculation of 50 excited states for singlet transition to investigate sufficient number of excited states, based on linear response theory using the Casida equation [Ref: T. A. Niehaus, S. Suhai, F. Della Sala, P Lugli, M. Elstner, G. Seifert, and Th. Frauenheim. Tight-binding approach to time-dependent density-functional response theory. Phys. Rev. B, 63:085108, 2001] and the ARPACK diagonalizer [R. B. Lehoucq, D. C. Sorensen, and C. Yang. Arpack users guide: Solution of large-scale eigenvalue problems by implicitly restarted arnoldi methods, 1997. 46, 51]. The dataset contains 1001 tar.gz files. Tar files are named as “ornl_aisd_ex_1.tar.gz†through “ornl_aisd_ex_1000.tar.gzâ€. Additionally, the 13 failed molecules are in “ornl_aisd_ex_unprocessed.tar.gzâ€. Except for the tar files listed below, each tar file contains 10,500 molecules. Tar files numbered 34, 121, 128, 352, 360, 429, 495, 509, 518, 627, 676, 668, and 862 contain 10,499 molecules each. The last tar file numbered 1000 contains 13,417 molecules. The total size of the uncompressed dataset is over 283 Gigabytes. The code for calculating the electronic excitation energies and statistical analysis of the dataset is provided at the following GitLab repository: https://github.com/ORNL/Analysis-of-Large-Scale-Molecular-Datasets-with-Python Calculating the UV spectrum of a molecule requires performing 3 main operations: 1. Converting the smiles string representation of a molecule into a geometric structure where each atom is assigned XYZ coordinates. The geometric structure is written to the file smiles.pdb. 2. Using smiles.pdb to compute the relaxed geometry of the molecule, which corresponds with the position of the atoms at the position of equilibrium at the ground state. This generates the files band.out, detailed.out, and geo_end.gen. 3. Using geo_end.gen to calculate the UV spectrum of the molecule which is written into the file EXC.DAT. Every molecule in the dataset has its own directory. The files contained in each molecule directory are as follows: 1. geo_end.gen 2. detailed.out 3. band.out 4. EXC.DAT 5. smiles.pdb REFERENCES [1] Niehaus, T. A.; Suhai, S.; Della Salla, F.; Lugli, P.; Elstner, M.; Seifert, G.; Frauenheim, Th. Tight-binding approach to time-dependent density-functional response theory. Phys. Rev. B, 2001, 63, 085108/1-9. [2] Blanchard, A.; Gounley, J.; Metha, K.; Yoo, P.; Irle, S. AISD HOMO-LUMO. DOI: 10.13139/ORNLNCCS/1869409 [3] RDKit: Cheminformatics and Machine Learning Software. 2013, [http://www.rdkit.org] [4] Tosco, P.; Stiefl, N. and Landrum, G. Bringing the MMFF force field to the RDKit: implementation and validation. J Cheminform. 2014, 6, 1–4. [5] a) Porezag, D.; Frauenheim, T.; Kohler, T.; Seifert, G.; Kaschner, Construction of tight-binding-like potentials on the basis of density-functional theory: Application to carbon, R. Phys. Rev. B 1995, 51, 12947-12957; b) Elstner, M.; Porezag, D.; Jungnickel, G.; Elsner, J.; Haugk, M.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S.; Seifert, G.; Phys. Rev. B 1998, 58, 7260-7268; c) Gaus, M.; Cui, Q.; Elstner, M. DFTB3: Extension of the Self-Consistent-Charge Density-Functional Tight-Binding Method (SCC-DFTB), J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2011, 7, 931-948; d) Cui, Q.; Elstner, M. Density functional tight binding: values of semi-empirical methods in an ab initio era, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 14368-14377. [6] Hourahine, B. et al. DFTB+, a software package for efficient approximate density functional theory based atomistic simulations, J. Chem. Phys. 2020, 152, 124101/1-19. [7] Larsen, A. H. et al. The atomic simulation environment—a Python library for working with atoms. J. Phys.: Cond. Matter 2017, 29, 273002. [8] Kubillus, M.; Kubar, T.; Gaus, M.; Rezac, J.; Elstner, M. Parameterization of the DFTB3 Method for Br, Ca, Cl, F, I, K, and Na in Organic and Biological Systems, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2015, 11, 332-342. [9] Brandenburg, J. G.; Grimme, S. Accurate Modeling of Organic Molecular Crystals by Dispersion-Corrected Density Functional Tight Binding (DFTB), J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 1785−1789. [10] a) Niehaus, T. A.; Elstner, M.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S. Application of an approximate density-functional method to sulfur containing compounds. J. Mol. Struct.: THEOCHEM 2001, 541, 185-94; b) Elstner, M.; Hobza, P.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S.; Kaxiras, E. Hydrogen bonding and stacking interactions of nucleic acid base pairs: A density-functional-theory based treatment. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 5149-55. [11] Kubar, T.; Bodrog, Z.; Gaus, M.; Köhler, C.; Aradi, B.; Frauenheim, Th.; Elstner, M. Parametrization of the SCC-DFTB Method for Halogens. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 2939-49.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ultrafast optical modulation of vibrational strong coupling in ReCl(CO) 3 (2,2-bipyridine)

Polaritons – hybrid light-matter states formed from the strong coupling of a bright molecular transition with a confined photonic mode – may offer new opportunities for optical control of molecular behavior. Vibrational strong coupling (VSC) has been reported to impact ground-state chemical reactivity, but its influence on electronic excited-state dynamics remains unexplored. Here, we take a first step towards excited-state VSC by demonstrating optical modulation of the ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy), (bpy = 2,2-bipyridine) complex under VSC using femtosecond ultraviolet (UV)-pump/infrared (IR)-probe spectroscopy. We establish ground-state VSC of ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy) in a microfluidic Fabry-Pérot cavity equipped with indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated mirrors. ITO is effectively dichroic as it is reflective in the IR and transmissive in the UV-visible and therefore minimizes optical interference. Excitation with UV pump light drives ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy) into a manifold of electronic excited states that subsequently undergo non-radiative relaxation dynamics. We probe the transient response of the strongly-coupled system in the mid-IR, observing both Rabi contraction and cavity-filtered excited-state absorption signatures. We reconstruct the intrinsic response of intracavity molecules from the transient cavity transmission spectra to enable quantitative comparison with extracavity control experiments. We report no changes in the excited-state dynamics of ReCl(CO) 3 (bpy) under ground-state VSC. However, we do observe significant amplification of transient vibrational signals due to classical cavity-enhanced optical effects. This effort lays the groundwork to pursue direct excited-state VSC aimed at modulating photochemical reactivity.

cavity-enhanced spectroscopy↗

Photoluminescence mapping of laser-damaged β-Ga 2 O 3

Here, photoluminescence (PL) mapping was utilized to investigate damage in β-Ga 2 O 3 epilayers induced by 1064 nm laser pulses. The intensity and position of the intrinsic UV band were determined and plotted as a false-color image. Two types of damage were identified: circular damage and damage cracks. Circular damage shows lower UV PL intensity than the surrounding material with color centers in a “halo” around the damaged region. Damage cracks are aligned with the a and c axes and show higher PL intensity than undamaged material. Defects in the as-grown material were revealed by shifts in the UV band energy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Machine learning enhanced characterization and optimization of photonic cured MAPbI 3 for efficient perovskite solar cells

Photonic curing (PC) can facilitate high-speed perovskite solar cell (PSC) manufacturing because it uses high-intensity light pulses to crystallize perovskite films in milliseconds. However, optimizing PC conditions is challenging due to its many variables, and using power conversion efficiency (PCE) as the optimization metric is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. This work presents a machine learning (ML) approach to optimize PC conditions for fabricating methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI 3 ) films by quantitatively comparing their ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorbance spectra to thermal annealed (TA) films using four similarity metrics. We perform Bayesian optimization coupled with Gaussian process regression (BO-GP) to minimize the similarity metrics. Refining PC conditions using active learning based on BO-GP models, we achieve a PC MAPbI3 film with an absorbance spectrum closely matching a TA reference film, which is further verified by its crystalline and morphological properties. Thus, we demonstrate that the UV-vis absorption spectrum can accurately proxy film quality. Additionally, we use an AI-based segmentation model for a more efficient grain size analysis. However, when we use the optimized PC condition to fabricate PSCs, we find that interaction between MAPbI 3 and the hole transport layer (HTL) during PC critically degrades the PSC performance. By adding a buffer layer between the HTL and MAPbI 3 , the optimized PC PSCs produce a champion PCE of 11.8%, comparable to the TA reference of 11.7%. Using UV-vis similarity metrics instead of device PCE as the objective in our BO-GP method accelerates the optimization of PC processing conditions for MAPbI 3 films.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Purification of Degraded Aqueous Piperazine by Ion Exchange and Carbon Treating

Amine purification by ion exchange and carbon treating has been performed for decades to maintain low solvent impurity levels in amines used in natural gas sweetening. The use of these purification methods to remove dissolved metal catalysts and other impurities from amines used in post-combustion carbon capture is less well known. This report presents batch experiments testing the equilibrium adsorption of impurities from degraded piperazine (PZ) onto activated carbon and various ion exchange resins. Compared to cationic exchange, anionic exchange was found to better remove catalytic Fe and UV active species, making it a better candidate for large-scale PZ purification. Carbon treating greatly outperforms anion exchange in the removal of UV active species, but the adsorbents’ difference is less pronounced for the removal of other impurities. Equilibrium adsorption was determined by the UV absorption of the PZ solution at 320 nm, and the results will show this may not be an accurate way to determine equilibrium. Further bench-scale experiments comparing ion exchange and carbon treating are necessary before advancing to larger-scale testing.

amine purification↗

Biosynthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles using Fungal Filtrates

Fungi produce and excrete various proteins, enzymes, and polysaccharides, which may be used for the synthesis of nanoparticles. This study investigated the effect an anion species on the synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles using fungal filtrates. In this work, ceramic zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles ranging between 1 nm and 1000 nm were successfully synthesized using three different filamentous fungi: Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., and Paecilomyces variotti. Each fungus was cultured, and the filtrate was extracted and individually exposed to zinc nitrate, zinc sulfate, or zinc chloride. The formation of nanoparticles was characterized using UV-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), fluorescence microscopy, and with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. UV-Vis spectra exhibited broad increases in the absorption across the range of 200 nm - 800 nm, which corresponded to the formation of ZnO nanoparticles under various conditions. Nanoparticle formation was confirmed with fluorescence microscopy and TEM analysis and determined to form particles with an irregular spherical shape. To date, our work demonstrates that the ability of fungi to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles is not genus/species-specific but is dependent on the starting composition of a given metal salt.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Radon Photoionization: Project Technical Report

In most low-background physics experiments, radon is a significant and problematic source of background radiation because it is inert and sufficiently long-lived to pervade laboratory spaces. It may be possible to manipulate (and thus mitigate) radon electromagnetically by taking advantage of its relatively low first ionization energy. When considering ambient-temperature gas phases, only iodine is comparable. The other noble gases, and the most important constituents of breathable air (nitrogen and oxygen), all have higher ionization energies; so it may be possible to selectively manipulate radon in a variety of gas streams by ionizing it with an appropriately low-energy source of photons. Radon’s first ionization energy is in the vacuum UV part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which can be produced using a deuterium lamp. In this report, we present our attempts to manipulate radon via UV photoionization in a laboratory setting. This approach has the potential to increase radon removal efficiency from gases and/or to improve the efficiency of radon detectors. Unfortunately, our experiments suggest that either the life-time of a photoionized radon ion (before it re-neutralizes) is too short to be of much practical use and/or that our low-cost UV-photon source was not sufficiently energetic for efficient photoionization of radon.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Organoboron Based Antioxidants

Earth’s environment can be considered especially harsh due to the cyclic exposure of heat, moisture, oxygen, and ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. Polymer-derived materials subjected to these conditions over time often exhibit symptoms of degradation and deterioration, ultimately leading to accelerated material failure. To combat this, chemical additives known as antioxidants are often used to delay the onset of weathering and oxidative degradation. Phenol-derived antioxidants have been used for decades due to their excellent performance and stability; unfortunately, concerns regarding their toxicity and leaching susceptibility have driven researchers to identify novel solutions to replace phenolic antioxidants. Herein, we report on the antioxidant efficacy of organoborons, which have been known to exhibit antioxidant activity in plants and animals. Four different organoboron molecules were formulated into epoxy materials at various concentrations and subsequently cured into thermoset composites. Their antioxidant performance was subsequently analyzed via thermal, colorimetric, and spectroscopic techniques. Generally, thermal degradation and oxidation studies proved inconclusive and ambiguous. However, aging studies performed under thermal and UV-intensive conditions showed moderate to extreme color changes, suggesting poor antioxidant performance of all organoboron additives. Infrared spectroscopic analysis of the UV aged samples showed evidence of severe material oxidation, while the thermally aged samples showed only slight material oxidation. Solvent extraction experiments showed that even moderately high organoboron concentrations show negligible leaching susceptibility, confirming previously reported results. This finding may have benefits in applications where additive leaching may cause degradation to sensitive materials, such as microelectronics and other materials science related areas.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Understanding spectral dependance of laser-induced damage precursors in dielectric materials (Full report_23-ERD-006)

The performance of high-energy laser systems is constrained by laser-induced damage in dielectric coatings, particularly those containing hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ). While thresholds at fundamental Nd harmonics are well studied, the spectral dependence of damage initiation—especially under dual-wavelength irradiation—remains poorly characterized. This project provides the first systematic investigation of wavelength-dependent laser damage in hafnia coatings, focusing on nanoscale precursors such as craze lines, nanobubbles, stoichiometric variations, nodules, and controlled crystallization. Coatings were fabricated via ion beam sputtering and electron-beam deposition and characterized using spectrophotometry, ellipsometry, AFM, GI-XRD, RBS, PCI absorption, and fs/ns laser damage testing. Results show that craze lines, benign under infrared light, strongly initiate damage under UV due to wavelength-selective field intensification. Substituting xenon for argon suppresses nanobubbles and improves UV thresholds by up to 32%. Oxygen modulation reveals that fully oxidized films maximize UV resistance, though at the cost of porosity and stress in multilayers. HfO 2 –SiO 2 composites resist crystallization and defects while achieving ppm-level absorption and elevated thresholds, whereas full crystallization of HfO 2 enhances LIDT by reducing defects and improving thermal transport. Collectively, these findings link photon energy, defect states, and bandgap collapse, providing a predictive framework for wavelength-dependent laser damage. The outcomes directly inform the design of durable, multi-wavelength coatings for facilities such as NIF, MEC, HAPLS, and DPAL, advancing the readiness of next-generation optics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Interfacial Dark Aging Is an Overlooked Source of Aqueous Secondary Organic Aerosol

In this work, the relative yields of aqueous secondary organic aerosols (aqSOAs) at the air–liquid (a–l) interface are investigated between photochemical and dark aging using in situ time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Our results show that dark aging is an important source of aqSOAs despite a lack of photochemical drivers. Photochemical reactions of glyoxal and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) produce oligomers and cluster ions at the aqueous surface. Interestingly, different oligomers and cluster ions form intensely in the dark at the a–l interface, contrary to the notion that oligomer formation mainly depends on light irradiation. Furthermore, cluster ions form readily during dark aging and have a higher water molecule adsorption ability. This finding is supported by the observation of more frequent organic water cluster ion formation. The relative yields of water clusters in the form of protonated and hydroxide ions are presented using van Krevelen diagrams to explore the underlying formation mechanisms of aqSOAs. Large protonated and hydroxide water clusters (e.g., (H2O)nH+, 17 < n ≤ 44) have reasonable yields during UV aging. In contrast, small protonated and hydroxide water clusters (e.g., (H2O)nH+, 1 ≤ n ≤ 17) form after several hours of dark aging. Moreover, cluster ions have higher yields in dark aging, indicating the overlooked influence of dark aging interfacial products on aerosol optical properties. Molecular dynamic simulation shows that cluster ions form stably in UV and dark aging. AqSOAs molecules produced from dark and photochemical aging can enhance UV absorption of the aqueous surface, promote cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activities, and affect radiative forcing.

Van Krevelen diagram↗