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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 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

A multiwavelength study of Nova QU Vulpeculae 1984

We have combined ground-based optical and satellite ultraviolet spectrophotometric data to study the ejected shell of Nova Vulpecula 1984 No. 2 (QU Vul). Substantial uncertainties concerning the nature of the ionizing continuum, and the role played by density inhomogeneities, now exist. Because of these uncertainties, the chemical composition is deduced from emission-line pairs chosen to minimize the effects of variations in temperature, density, and ionization. We find that the chemical composition of the ejected shell show enhancements of several elements relative to hydrogen, namely, He, N, O, Ne, Mg, Al, and Si, as is expected for an outburst occurring on an ONeMg white dwarf. It is also shown that QU Vul ejected a large amount of aluminum into the interstellar medium, and it is estimated that only a small fraction of slow novae of this type can account for the observed abundance of aluminum in the Galaxy.

Saizar, Pedro↗
NASA NTRS1995

The mini-CIDEX GC/IMS: Analysis of cometary ice and dust

Comets are recognized as among the most scientifically important objects in the solar system. They are presumed relics of the early primitive material in the solar nebula and are believed to have provided a general enrichment of volatiles to the inner solar system. The Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Mission, a proposed Discovery-Class Mission, will analyze materials released into the coma, providing information leading to the understanding of the chemical composition and make-up of the cometary nucleus. As one of two scientific instruments in the C4 spacecraft, an advanced and streamlined version of the Cometary Ice and Dust Experiment (CIDEX), a mini-CIDEX, will employ an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer to determine bulk elemental composition of cometary dust grains and a Gas Chromatograph/Ion Mobility Spectrometer (GC/IMS) for determination of the molecular composition of dust and ices following stepwise pyrolysis and combustion. A description of the mini-CIDEX IMS will be provided as well as data from analyses conducted using the mini-CIDEX breadboard instrument.

Kojiro, Daniel R.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Measurement of Selected Organic Trace Gases During TRACE-P

Major goals of the TRACE-P mission were: 1) to investigate the chemical composition of radiatively important gases, aerosols, and their precursors in the Asian outflow over the western Pacific, and 2) to describe and understand the chemical evolution of the Asian outflow as it is transported and mixed into the global troposphere. The research performed as part of this proposal addressed these major goals with a study of the organic chemical composition of gases in the TRACE-P region. This work was a close collaboration with the Blake/Rowland research group at UC-Irvine, and they have provided a separate report for their funded effort.

Atlas, Elliot↗
NASA NTRS1981

Planetary phase equilibria - Application to formation of earth, Venus and Mercury

Calculations of phase equilibria in a solar mixture with variable hydrogen abundance show that the major element chemical composition of the earth and Venus can be simply explained by their formation in equilibrium at 800 and 1000 K, respectively, at a pressure of 0.001 atm, provided that there is an iron loss from the region of proto-Venus relative to the solar nebula. The calculated mineralogical chemical compositions of the two planets are in excellent agreement with the available chemical and physical data. Phase equilibrium calculations at 1500 K and 0.001 atm show that nearly 96% of the silicates and 81% of metal must have been lost from the region of proto-Mercury.

Saxena, S. K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Determination of fluorine distribution in shark teeth by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Quantifying the chemical composition of fast-growing hard tissues in the environment can shed valuable information in terms of understanding ecosystems both prehistoric and current. Changes in chemical composition can be correlated with environmental conditions and can provide information about the organism's life. Sharks can lose 0.1 to 1.1 teeth/day, depending on species, which offers a unique opportunity to record environmental changes over a short duration of time. Shark teeth contain a biomineral phase that is made up of fluorapatite [Ca 5 (PO 4 ) 3 F], and the F distribution within the tooth can be correlated to tooth hardness. Typically, this is determined by bulk acid digestion, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), or wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy. Here we present laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as an alternative and faster approach for determining F distribution within shark teeth. Using a two-volume laser ablation chamber (TwoVol3) with innovative embedded collection optics for LIBS, shark teeth were investigated from sand tiger (Carcharias Taurus), tiger (Galeocerdo Cuvier), and hammerhead sharks (Sphyrnidae). Fluorine distribution was mapped using the CaF 603 nm band (CaF, Β 2 Σ + → X 2 Σ + ) and quantified using apatite reference materials. In addition, F measurements were cross referenced with EDS analyses to validate the findings. Distributions of F (603 nm), Na (589 nm), and H (656 nm) within the tooth correlate well with the expected biomineral composition and expected tooth hardness. This rapid methodology could transform the current means of determining F distribution, particularly when large sample specimens (350 mm 2 , presented here) and large quantities of specimens are of interest.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effect of Framework Composition and NH 3 on the Diffusion of Cu + in Cu-CHA Catalysts Predicted by Machine-Learning Accelerated Molecular Dynamics

Cu-exchanged zeolites rely on mobile solvated Cu + cations for their catalytic activity, but the role of the framework composition in transport is not fully understood. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations can provide quantitative atomistic insight but are too computationally expensive to explore large length and time scales or diverse compositions. We report a machine-learning interatomic potential that accurately reproduces ab initio results and effectively generalizes to allow multinanosecond simulations of large supercells and diverse chemical compositions. Biased and unbiased simulations of [Cu(NH 3 ) 2 ] + mobility show that aluminum pairing in eight-membered rings accelerates local hopping and demonstrate that increased NH 3 concentration enhances long-range diffusion. The probability of finding two [Cu(NH 3 ) 2 ] + complexes in the same cage, which is key for SCR-NOx reaction, increases with Cu content and Al content but does not correlate with the long-range mobility of Cu + . Supporting experimental evidence was obtained from reactivity tests of Cu-CHA catalysts with a controlled chemical composition.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tailoring Charge Transport and Magnetism in Complex Half-Heusler/Full-Heusler Nanocomposites (Final Report)

This project exploits (1) the facile co-crystallization of the half-Heusler (HH) and full-Heusler (FH) structures, (2) the high coherency and stability of the HH/FH interfaces, and (3) the solid-state inter-conversion between HH and FH structures through local atomic diffusion, to investigate, for selected compositions of the HH and FH phases, the effect of size, dimensionality, dispersion and volume fraction of FH nanostructures on the electronic, phonon and magnetic behavior of the resulting HH/FH nanocomposites. Our goal is to identify and control key material and growth parameters governing phase formation, microstructural evolution, and to understand the mechanism by which these changes of the internal structure modify the material’s performance. To elucidate the mechanism by which the FH nanostructures regulate electronic charge transport and induce ferromagnetism within non-magnetic and magnetic semiconducting HH matrices, suitable series of HH/0D-FH and HH/2D-FH nanocomposites will be fabricated using synthesis conditions suggested by theoretical calculations of the formation energy and stability of various FH phases (varying M) in HH matrices with known chemical composition. The structure of the HH/FH interfaces (size, chemical composition, volume fraction and dispersion) will be investigated along with the evaluation of the electronic (carrier density, mobility, thermopower, electrical conductivity, effective mass), thermal and magnetic (susceptibility, magnetization etc.) properties of the resulting HH/FH nanocomposites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Chemical identification of new particle formation and growth precursors through positive matrix factorization of ambient ion measurements

Abstract. In the lower troposphere, rapid collisions between ions and trace gases result in the transfer of positive charge to the highest proton affinity species and negative charge to the lowest proton affinity species. Measurements of the chemical composition of ambient ions thus provide direct insight into the most acidic and basic trace gases and their ion–molecule clusters – compounds thought to be important for new particle formation and growth. We deployed an atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer (APi-ToF) to measure ambient ion chemical composition during the 2016 Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) campaign at the United States Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facility in the Southern Great Plains (SGP), an agricultural region. Cations and anions were measured for alternating periods of ∼ 24 h over 1 month. We use binned positive matrix factorization (binPMF) and generalized Kendrick analysis (GKA) to obtain information about the chemical formulas and temporal variation in ionic composition without the need for averaging over a long timescale or a priori high-resolution peak fitting. Negative ions consist of strong acids including sulfuric and nitric acid, organosulfates, and clusters of NO3- with highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) derived from monoterpene (MT) and sesquiterpene (SQT) oxidation. Organonitrates derived from SQTs account for most of the HOM signal. Combined with the diel profiles and back trajectory analysis, these results suggest that NO3 radical chemistry is active at this site. SQT oxidation products likely contribute to particle growth at the SGP site. The positive ions consist of bases including alkyl pyridines and amines and a series of high-mass species. Nearly all the positive ions contained only one nitrogen atom and in general support ammonia and amines as being the dominant bases that could participate in new particle formation. Overall, this work demonstrates how APi-ToF measurements combined with binPMF analysis can provide insight into the temporal evolution of compounds important for new particle formation and growth.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Predicting Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation of Submicrometer Proxies for Atmospheric Secondary Aerosol

Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of atmospheric aerosols can significantly impact climate, air quality, and human health. However, their complex composition, small size, and history-dependent properties result in great uncertainty in the modeling of aerosol phase state and atmospheric processes. Herein, using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), we examined model submicron aerosols composed of organic compounds and ammonium sulfate, and established a parameterization for the separation relative humidity (SRH) that accounts for chemical composition, particle size, and equilibration time. We evaluated different variables that describe chemical composition: O/C ratio, partition coefficient, solubility, molar mass, and polarizability. The O/C ratio fits the SRH of micrometer droplets best, and by using a scaling factor to translate the micrometer SRH parameterization to submicron aerosols, we incorporate the effects of size and equilibration time. The measured scaling factor for the submicron mean SRH (30nm – 1μm, 20 min equilibration times) is 0.80, the factor becomes 1 with equilibration time over 1 hour, and is equal to 0, meaning that SRH is absent, when the aerosol dry diameter is smaller than 30 nm. Furthermore, our parameterization will aid in universal SRH modeling, potentially leading to more accurate predictions of aerosol mass, optical properties, hygroscopicity, and heterogeneous chemistry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2017

Predictive Modeling of Fast-Curing Thermosets in Nozzle-Based Extrusion

This work presents an approach to modeling the dynamic spreading and curing behavior of thermosets in nozzle-based extrusions. Thermosets cover a wide range of materials, some of which permit low-temperature processing with subsequent high-temperature and high-strength working properties. Extruding thermosets may overcome the limited working temperatures and strengths of conventional thermoplastic materials used in additive manufacturing. This project aims to produce technology for the fabrication of thermoset-based structures leveraging advances made in nozzle-based extrusion, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM), material jetting, and direct writing. Understanding the synergistic interactions between spreading and fast curing of extruded thermosetting materials will provide essential insights for applications that require accurate dimensional controls, such as additive manufacturing [1], [2] and centrifugal coating/forming [3]. Two types of thermally curing thermosets -- one being a soft silicone (Ecoflex 0050) and the other being a toughened epoxy (G/Flex) -- served as the test materials in this work to obtain models for cure kinetics and viscosity. The developed models align with extensive measurements made with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheology. DSC monitors the change in the heat of reaction, which reflects the rate and degree of cure at different crosslinking stages. Rheology measures the change in complex viscosity, shear moduli, yield stress, and other properties dictated by chemical composition. By combining DSC and rheological measurements, it is possible to establish a set of models profiling the cure kinetics and chemorheology without prior knowledge of chemical composition, which is usually necessary for sophisticated mechanistic modeling. In this work, we conducted both isothermal and dynamic measurements with both DSC and rheology. With the developed models, numerical simulations yielded predictions of diameter and height of droplets, along with width and height of extruded lines cured at varied temperatures. Experimental results carried out on a goniometric platform and a nozzle-based 3D printer showed agreement with the numerical simulations. Finally, this presentation will show how the models are adaptable to the planning of tool paths and designs in additive manufacturing.

Xie, Jingjin↗
NASA NTRS1993

The APX Spectrometer for Martian Missions

Obtaining the chemical composition of any planetary body should be a prime science objective of each planetary mission. The APX spectrometer has been designed to provide a detailed and complete chemical composition of all major (except H) and minor elements with high accuracy, in situ and remotely. From such complete analyses a first-order mineralogy of analyzed samples can be deduced. Laboratory studies in the past have shown that rock types (e.g., dunites, basalts, Philippinate 300 sample) were a uniquely in blind test analyses. Such identification is more accurate than can be obtained from any other remote spectroscopic technique. The APX technique is based on three modes of nuclear and atomic interactions of alpha particles with matter resulting in three different energy spectra containing the compositional information. The instrument uses 50 to 100 mCi of Cm-242 or Cm-244 transuranium radioisotopes to provide a monoenergetic beam of alpha particles (6.01 MeV and 5.80 MeV respectively) and solid-state detectors for acquiring the energy spectra.

Economou, T.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Ultraviolet Testing of Space Suit Materials for Mars

Human missions to Mars may require radical changes in the approach to extra-vehicular (EVA) suit design. A major challenge is the balance of building a suit robust enough to complete multiple EVAs under intense ultraviolet (UV) light exposure without losing mechanical strength or compromising the suit's mobility. To study how the materials degrade on Mars in-situ, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) invited the Advanced Space Suit team at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) to place space suit materials on the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument's calibration target of the Mars 2020 rover. In order to select materials for the rover and understand the effects from Mars equivalent UV exposure, JSC conducted ground testing on both current and new space suit materials when exposed to 2500 hours of Mars mission equivalent UV. To complete this testing, JSC partnered with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to utilize their UV vacuum chambers. Materials tested were Orthofabric, polycarbonate, Teflon, Dacron, Vectran, spectra, bladder, nGimat coated Teflon, and nGimat coated Orthofabric. All samples were measured for mass, tensile strength, and chemical composition before and after radiation. Mass loss was insignificant (less than 0.5%) among the materials. Most materials loss tensile strength after radiation and became more brittle with a loss of elongation. Changes in chemical composition were seen in all radiated materials through Spectral Analysis. Results from this testing helped select the materials that will fly on the Mars 2020 rover. In addition, JSC can use this data to create a correlation to the chemical changes after radiation-which is what the rover will send back while on Mars-to the mechanical changes, such as tensile strength.

Larson, Kristine↗
NASA NTRS2017

Ultraviolet Testing of Space Suit Materials for Mars

Human missions to Mars may require radical changes in the approach to extra-vehicular (EVA) suit design. A major challenge is the balance of building a suit robust enough to complete multiple EVAs under intense ultraviolet (UV) light exposure without losing mechanical strength or compromising the suit's mobility. To study how the materials degrade on Mars in-situ, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) invited the Advanced Space Suit team at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) to place space suit materials on the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument's calibration target of the Mars 2020 rover. In order to select materials for the rover and understand the effects from Mars equivalent UV exposure, JSC conducted ground testing on both current and new space suit materials when exposed to 2500 hours of Mars mission equivalent UV. To complete this testing, JSC partnered with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to utilize their UV vacuum chambers. Materials tested were Orthofabric, polycarbonate, Teflon, Dacron, Vectran, spectra, bladder, nGimat coated Teflon, and nGimat coated Orthofabric. All samples were measured for mass, tensile strength, and chemical composition before and after radiation. Mass loss was insignificant (less than 0.5%) among the materials. Most materials loss tensile strength after radiation and became more brittle with a loss of elongation. Changes in chemical composition were seen in all radiated materials through Spectral Analysis. Results from this testing helped select the materials that will fly on the Mars 2020 rover. In addition, JSC can use this data to create a correlation to the chemical changes after radiation-which is what the rover will send back while on Mars-to the mechanical changes, such as tensile strength.

Larson, Kristine↗
DOE OSTI2022

Codesigning Alloy Compositions of CdSe y Te 1− y Absorbers and Mg x Zn 1− x O Contacts to Increase Solar Cell Efficiency

Thin‐film solar cells such as CdTe are a major commercial photovoltaic technology, with more than 25 GW installed worldwide and levelized costs of electricity competitive with fossil fuels. Further progress may result from integrating CdSe y Te 1− y absorbers with Mg x Zn 1− x O contacts, but the device efficiency is difficult to maximize due to coupled dependence on chemical composition of both alloys. Herein, a high‐throughput approach is demonstrated to codesign chemical compositions in alloyed Mg x Zn 1− x O/CdSe y Te 1− y thin‐film solar cells, using combinatorial libraries of PV devices with orthogonal composition gradients in CdSe y Te 1− y absorbers and Mg x Zn 1− x O contacts. It is found that the solar cell performance is a strong and coupled function of both elemental compositions, with efficiency up to 17.7% ( V OC = 836 mV, fill factor = 69%, J SC = 30.6 mA cm −2 ) at atomic compositions of Mg/(Mg + Zn) ≈18% and average Se/(Se + Te) ≈4%. These performance trends among >100 devices are explained by >100 ns lifetime of photoexcited charge carriers at the Mg x Zn 1− x O/CdSe y Te 1− y interface where strong Se accumulation is also observed. This study reports the optimal compositions of the commercially relevant Mg x Zn 1− x O/CdSe y Te 1− y solar cells and demonstrates a general approach to codesigning performance of alloyed thin‐film solar cells and other optoelectronic devices.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2019

Mars Atmospheric Chemistry Simulations with the GEM-Mars General Circulation Model

General Circulation Models with interactive physical and chemistry processes are the state-of-the-art tools for an integrated view and understanding of the Martian atmosphere and climate system. The GEM-Mars model currently includes 16 tracers for chemical composition and applies a fully online, interactive calculation of the photo- and gas phase chemistry of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O). These species largely control the chemical composition of the neutral Mars atmosphere through their photolysis products and their subsequent interactions. Water vapor undergoes a complex cycle on Mars as it is transported and interacts with ice reservoirs both at the planet's surface and at water ice clouds, which in turn provide radiative feedbacks. In the photochemical cycles involving CO2 and H2O, the abundances of 5 species have been reported by previous investigations with significant spatio-temporal coverage: CO2, H2O, CO, O3 and H2O2. This paper presents the current status of the atmospheric chemistry simulations in GEM-Mars by comparing them to a selection of these observational datasets as well as to oxygen dayglow emission from O2(a1∆g). The results are consistent with previous model-data comparisons and illustrate that the water cycle and the photochemistry are well implemented in the model. In particular, the simulation of the key reservoir species H2O2 provides a good match to the available data. Model-data biases for ozone columns and oxygen airglow are related to the simulated water vapor vertical profile, as these species have important column contributions from vertical layers at the top of the hygropause.

F Daerden↗
NASA NTRS1990

Reconstruction of O3 and N2O fields from ER-2, DC-8, and balloon observations

Measurements of N2O and O3 during the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition have been composited using the potential vorticity and potential temperature of each measurement as coordinates. For ozone, data sources included the ER-2 and balloon ozonesonde in situ measurements, DC-8 DIAL lidar, and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment satellite profiles. For N2O, only ER-2 data were used. These chemical composites have been reconstructed onto average meteorological fields for the mission in a latitude-altitude cross section, yielding a picture of the chemical composition of the polar vortex during this period. Tracers inside the vortex show an apparent descent of about 2 km relative to those outside, resulting in an apparent chemical edge on isentropic and isobaric surfaces.

Schoeberl, Mark R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Contribution of Speciated Monoterpenes to Secondary Aerosol in the Eastern North Atlantic

Extension of laboratory results suggests that monoterpenes, a subset of marine biogenic volatile organic compounds, might play a competitive role in secondary aerosol formation in the remote marine atmosphere, where the oxidation of dimethyl sulfide has traditionally been thought to dominate. However, the current assessment of the role of monoterpenes in secondary aerosol formation in the remote marine atmosphere is limited by the scarcity of speciated monoterpene measurements and the complete absence of collocated measurements of particle chemical composition and monoterpene speciation. Here, in this paper, we present measurements of gas-phase volatile organic compounds, with particular focus on speciated monoterpenes, and commensurate measurements of aerosol chemical composition in the Eastern North Atlantic. The average monoterpene concentration in periods of marine air was 14 ± 10 ppt, and the dominant isomer was β-pinene (46 ± 10%), with other contributions from α-pinene, limonene, and β-ocimene. The total monoterpene concentration in marine air was greater than that of isoprene by a factor of 3.9 on average, in contrast to prior research and potentially due to the large β-pinene contribution. Monoterpenes were significantly smaller in concentration than dimethyl sulfide, which was also highlighted by the substantial contribution of sulfate to non-refractory submicron aerosol. The mean and interquartile range of the sulfate to organic aerosol mass ratio in clean marine air were 2.7 (0.7–3.4). Finally, a simple box model analysis showed that the BVOC precursors, dimethyl sulfide, methanethiol, monoterpenes, and isoprene, could sustain the measured sulfate to organic aerosol ratio in clean marine air.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗