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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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Ultra-selective CANAL Polymers for Hydrogen-based Membrane Separations after Long-Term Aging

Hydrogen is a critically important molecule in the chemicals and energy industries, driving the need for efficient purification technologies such as membrane-based separations. However, polymer membranes often suffer from physical aging, leading to decreased gas permeability over time. This study leverages the unique aging behavior of contorted microporous polymers, synthesized via catalytic arene-norbornene annulation (CANAL) polymerization, to enhance molecular sieving for H 2 separations. While prior studies demonstrated a 1000% increase in H 2 /CH 4 selectivity with minimal permeability loss over 150 days, we extend this investigation to hyperaged (∼1 year) CANAL polymers and evaluate their performance under various conditions of industrial relevance. We report a remarkable 6100% increase in H 2 /CH 4 selectivity and a 2400% improvement in H 2 /N 2 selectivity, with only a 55% decline in H 2 permeability. These membranes exhibit excellent long-term stability in binary and ternary gas mixtures and at elevated temperatures. Additionally, extended aging enhances H 2 /CO 2 selectivity beyond the 2008 upper bound due to improved size-sieving. High-temperature permeation experiments and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations reveal that H 2 permeability increases from 570 to 3500 barrer as the temperature rises from 35 °C to 190 °C, while H 2 /CO 2 selectivity declines from 14 to 3 due to the higher diffusion activation energy of CO 2 . Despite this tradeoff, hyperaged CANAL membranes maintain performance beyond the 200 °C upper bound, having selectivity–permeability performance comparable to many state-of-the-art membranes for H 2 /CO 2 separations. As a result, this study highlights the robustness and industrial viability of ultra-selective CANAL polymers for hydrogen purification, contributing to advancements in clean energy and sustainable separation technologies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Synthesis of imidazolium-mediated Poly(benzoxazole) Ionene and composites with ionic liquids as advanced gas separation membranes

We report thermally rearranged (TR) polymers and ionic polymers are two material classes which have been employed in leading gas separation membranes. This work introduces a novel approach of combining the benzoxazole functionality associated with TR polymers with tailorable cationic groups, yielding a new type of imidazolium-mediated poly(benzoxazole) ionene polymer, “Im-PBO-Ionene” with the aim of enhanced CO 2 separation performance. The structural changes exhibited from the Coulombic interactions between the ionene backbone and the “free” ionic liquid (IL) resulted in enhanced gas separation performance, shown in fundamental characterizations, observed through increased diffusivities and more notably, retained high selectivities and 3x or 5x respective increases in CO 2 permeability upon the addition of 1 or 2 equivalents of IL per polymer repeat unit. These new high-performance ionenes demonstrate the versatility of ionene design and potential of the ionene + IL material platform for gas separation membranes with versatile incorporation of sophisticated functional and structural features.

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

Tuning gas separation performance of polyimide membranes with macrocyclic crown ether units

Membrane-based gas separation is an energy-efficient alternative to conventional thermally-driven separation processes. However, polymer membranes face the permeability-selectivity trade-off challenge, which stems from the broad size distribution of free volume voids. Here, this study reports a molecular design strategy to address this challenge through incorporating macrocyclic crown ether (CE) moieties into the backbone of Matrimid® polyimide, a commercial gas separation membrane. A series of CE-containing Matrimid®-like copolyimides were synthesized with systematically varied CE molar contents ranging from 3 to 20%. These copolyimides formed ductile, defect-free thin films suitable for membrane fabrication. Gas permeation tests revealed a non-monotonic relationship between permeability/selectivity and CE content. Notably, the copolyimide with only 5% CE demonstrated a 61% increase in CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity and a 13% increase in CO 2 permeability relative to pristine Matrimid®. Higher CE contents did not yield further performance improvements, which is likely due to the competing effects of chain packing disruption and π–π interactions among CE moieties at high content. This hypothesis was supported by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) analysis, density measurements, and fractional free volume calculations. These findings highlight the potential of macrocyclic crown ether incorporation strategies in fine tuning the microstructure of commercial polyimide gas separation membranes to surpass the traditional permeability-selectivity trade-off.

CO2 separation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Continuous-Flow Centrifugal Solid/Liquid Separation for the Recovery of Rare-Earth Elements Containing Particles from Phosphoric Acid Sludge

Phosphoric acid sludge contains acid (~54% P 2 O 5 ) and solid precipitates including rare earth elements (REEs) at concentrations of ~2200 ppm. Low-cost recovery of valuable P 2 O 5 and simultaneous solid separation could be an economically feasible approach to recovering REEs while increasing the production of phosphoric acid. The sludge, however, is a complicated stream that cannot be separated by traditional technologies because of high viscosity and a large solid content (30–40%). Guided by a force balance model, an efficient solid/liquid separation method is demonstrated, using a continuous-flow centrifugal contactor. Additionally, the shear regime is bypassed by introducing the sludge directly into the rotor where a centrifugal force is exerted on the fluid, inducing phase separation. Solid particles are trapped in the contactor. High liquid recovery is demonstrated and the effects of process parameters on solid capture are investigated. Three contactors in series yield 94% recovery of solids containing 1500–2895 ppm of REEs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dynamics of Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation in Submicrometer Aerosol

Nanoscale materials, when compared to their bulk components, possess unique properties. In particular, shifts in phase transitions can occur for submicron particles. For instance, small particles do not undergo the process of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). LLPS has applications in emulsions such as Janus particles, controllable morphology to create drug-rich phases during drug delivery, and is often observed in atmospheric aqueous aerosol particles. In atmospheric particles, LLPS is tracked as a function of particle water activity, which is equivalent to the relative humidity (RH) at equilibrium. We probed three organic/inorganic aerosol systems in the range of RH over which phase separation occurs (SRH). Our findings indicate that SRH for submicron aerosol particles is lower than for micron-sized droplets. These findings show that it may be necessary to update the representation of phase transitions in aerosol particles in climate models. The vast majority of organic/inorganic aerosol particles have submicron diameters, and a decrease in SRH for submicron particles indicates that the current estimation of phase separated aerosols may be overestimated. Furthermore, understanding the properties of LLPS at the nanoscale can provide key parameters to describe these systems and may lead to better control of phase separation in submicron particles.

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

Broadening the Gas Separation Utility of Monolayer Nanoporous Graphene Membranes by an Ionic Liquid Gating

Ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) monolayer atomic crystal materials offer great potential for extending the field of novel separation technology due to their infinitesimal thickness and mechanical strength. One difficult and ongoing challenge is to perforate the 2D monolayer material with subnanometer pores with atomic precision for sieving similarly sized molecules. Here, we demonstrate the exceptional separation performance of ionic liquid (IL)/graphene hybrid membranes for challenging separation of CO 2 and N 2 . Notably, the ultrathin ILs afford dynamic tuning of the size and chemical affinity of nanopores while preserving the high permeance of the monolayer nanoporous graphene membranes. The hybrid membrane yields a high CO 2 permeance of 4000 GPU and an outstanding CO 2 /N 2 selectivity up to 32. Finally, this rational hybrid design provides a universal direction for broadening gas separation capability of atomically thin nanoporous membranes.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

In Situ Synthesis of Phosphate-Based CelloMOF as a Promising Separator for Li–Ion Batteries

Nowadays, battery separators play a critical role in determining the sustainability, electrochemical efficiency, and safety of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this contribution, we developed fire-resistant composite membranes called CelloMOF by in situ grafting of metal-organic framework, ZIF-67, onto phosphorylated cellulose nanofibers (P-CNFs) followed by a vacuum filtration process akin to papermaking. The hybrid ZIF-67@P-CNF membrane exhibits superior properties than a polyolefin-based commercial separator (CS) in terms of enhanced thermal and dimensional stability, flame-retardant properties, better surface wettability, and improved electrolyte uptake. Thermal dimensional stability tests revealed that the ZIF-67@P-CNF separator maintained its structure even at 200 °C, whereas CS suffered severe shrinkage, potentially leading to internal short circuits. Combustion tests showed a peak heat release rate (PHRR) of 34.5 W/g and a total heat release (THR) of 1.61 kJ/g for ZIF-67@P-CNF, significantly lower than the PHRR (1111.82 W/g) and THR (40.89 kJ/g) of CS. The composite separator also demonstrated significantly improved wettability, with a contact angle of 32 ± 1.04°, compared to 92 ± 1.07° for CS, highlighting its hydrophilic nature. Electrochemical evaluations in LiFePO 4 /Li half-cells indicated a higher discharge capacity of 149 mA h g -1 at 0.2 C and superior capacity retention of 86% after 50 cycles, outperforming CS (145 mA h g -1 and 84%, respectively). In conclusion, these results underscore the potential of the ZIF-67@P-CNF membrane to advance safe, high-performance LIBs by addressing critical challenges in thermal stability, flame retardancy, and electrolyte compatibility.

ZIF-67↗
DOE OSTI2020

Zincate-Blocking-Functionalized Polysulfone Separators for Secondary Zn–MnO 2 Batteries

Alkaline zinc–manganese dioxide (Zn–MnO 2 ) batteries are well suited for grid storage applications because of their inherently safe, aqueous electrolyte and established materials supply chain, resulting in low production costs. With recent advances in the development of Cu/Bi-stabilized birnessite cathodes capable of the full 2-electron capacity equivalent of MnO 2 (617 mA h/g), there is a need for selective separators that prevent zincate (Zn(OH) 4 ) 2– transport from the anode to the cathode during cycling, as this electrode system fails in the presence of dissolved zinc. In this work, we present the synthesis of N-butylimidazolium-functionalized polysulfone (NBI-PSU)-based separators and evaluate their ability to selectively transport hydroxide over zincate. We then examine their impact on the cycling of high depth of discharge Zn/(Cu/Bi–MnO 2 ) batteries when inserted in between the cathode and anode. Initially, we establish our membranes’ selectivity by performing zincate and hydroxide diffusion tests, showing a marked improvement in zincate-blocking (D Zn (cm 2 /min): 0.17 ± 0.04 × 10 –6 for 50-PSU, our most selective separator vs 2.0 ± 0.8 × 10 –6 for Cellophane 350P00 and 5.7 ± 0.8 × 10 –6 for Celgard 3501), while maintaining similar crossover rates for hydroxide (D OH (cm 2 /min): 9.4 ± 0.1 × 10 –6 for 50-PSU vs 17 ± 0.5 × 10 –6 for Cellophane 350P00 and 6.7 ± 0.6 × 10 –6 for Celgard 3501). We then implement our membranes into cells and observe an improvement in cycle life over control cells containing only the commercial separators (cell lifetime extended from 21 to 79 cycles).

crossover↗
DOE OSTI2020

Doubly Interpenetrated Metal-Organic Framework of pcu Topology for Selective Separation of Propylene from Propane

We report that adsorptive separation is an appealing alternative technology to reduce the high energy and capital cost of the distillation separation of propylene/propane; however, it is very challenging to realize. A new flexible metal-organic framework (MOF) material [Zn 2 (BDC-Cl) 2 (Py 2 TTz)] with a doubly interpenetrated pillared paddle wheel structure of pcu (primitive cubic) topology has been realized for this difficult separation for the first time. Through a judicious choice of linkers, the framework has small pore apertures that lead to much more propylene adsorption than propane. The selective adsorption relies on the sieving effect of the flexible framework. The column breakthrough experiment further demonstrated that efficient separation can be achieved under dynamic conditions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Facilely Cross-Linking Polybenzimidazole with Polycarboxylic Acids to Improve H 2 /CO 2 Separation Performance

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) with a strong size-sieving ability exhibits attractive H 2 /CO 2 separation properties for blue H 2 production and CO 2 capture. Herein, we report that PBI can be facilely cross-linked with polycarboxylic acids, oxalic acid (OA), and trans-aconitic acid (TaA) to improve its separation performance. The acids react with the amines on the PBI chains, decreasing free volume and increasing size-sieving ability. The acid doping increases H 2 /CO 2 selectivity from 12 to as high as 45 at 35 °C. Here, the acid-doped samples demonstrate stable H 2 /CO 2 separation performance when challenged with simulated syngas containing water vapor at 150 °C, which surpasses state-of-the-art polymers and Robeson’s upper bound for H 2 /CO 2 separation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Catalytic Hydrogenolysis of Polyethylene Under Reactive Separation

Deconstruction of polyolefins by catalytic hydrogenolysis is typically accompanied by the generation of undesired light gases. At reaction temperatures, the desired liquid products also tend to be volatile. Secondary cleavage of these liquid products contributes to light gas formation. The latter process was mitigated by reactive separation, continuously separating the liquid products from the catalyst throughout the experiment. At equivalent conversion, the yield and selectivity for oligomeric liquid species are increased under reactive separation, even though the carbon–carbon bond cleavage rate is slower than that in sealed experiments. More light gas is formed in the sealed reactor. Under 1 atm H 2 partial pressure, alkenes accompany the typical alkane hydrogenolysis products. Further, the alkene yield is higher, with greater selectivity for valuable α-olefins under reactive separation. These results provide the mechanistic insight that terminal alkenes are primary products of carbon–carbon bond cleavage during hydrogenolysis under experimental conditions, and secondary deconstruction of these species produces light gases.

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

Small- and Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering Studies of Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation in Silicate Melts

Incongruent liquid-liquid phase separation is a common phenomenon in molten oxides, but there are few structural studies due to the high temperatures involved ca. >1600oC. In this work, we present a high-energy x-ray combined small/wide angle scattering (SAXS/WAXS) method that can directly probe non-equilibrium phase diagrams. The Porod exponent in the SAXS signal is extracted, which measures the roughness of the interface formed between different phases. Problematic volatilization of silica in Al 2 O 3 -, CaO-, and MgO-bearing silica-rich liquids were minimized using levitation, laser heating and rapid time-resolved measurements (lasting tens of seconds), to probe the kinetics of the phase separation process. The WAXS measurement simultaneously probes the local atomic structure of the liquid state and shows that the primary structural changes are associated with the SiO 2 network. Cation coordination numbers extracted from pair distribution functions support the model that the origin of phase separation in binary silicate systems is due to Coulombic repulsions between poorly screened cations. For CaO-SiO 2 , the liquid-liquid phase separation is found to correlate with a pause in the temperature dependent atomic disorder associated with SiO4 tetrahedra.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Scalable Polymeric Few-Nanometer Organosilica Membranes with Hydrothermal Stability for Selective Hydrogen Separation

Nanoporous silica membranes exhibit excellent H 2 /CO 2 separation properties for sustainable H 2 production and CO 2 capture but are prepared via complicated thermal processes above 400 °C, which prevent their scalable production at a low cost. Here, we demonstrate the rapid fabrication (within 2 min) of ultrathin silica-like membranes (~3 nm) via an oxygen plasma treatment of polydimethylsiloxane-based thin-film composite membranes at 20 °C. The resulting organosilica membranes unexpectedly exhibit H2 permeance of 280-930 GPU (1 GPU = 3.347 x 10 -10 mol m -2 s -1 Pa -1 ) and H2/CO2 selectivity of 93-32 at 200 °C, far surpassing state-of-the-art membranes and Robeson’s upper bound for H 2 /CO 2 separation. When challenged with a 3 d simulated syngas test containing water vapor at 200 °C and a 340 d stability test, the membrane shows durable separation performance and excellent hydrothermal stability. The robust H 2 /CO 2 separation properties coupled with excellent scalability demonstrate the great potential of these organosilica membranes for economic H 2 production with minimal carbon emissions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Separation and Recovery of High-Purity Dysprosium from Electric Vehicle Scrap Permanent Magnets Using Cyanex 572, a Cationic Extractant in a Membrane Solvent Extraction Process

Rare earth elements (REEs), especially heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium (Dy), have gained immense attention globally due to their widespread use in many state-of-the-art technologies. Consequently, demand for REEs is increasing rapidly in comparison to their supply. Recycling of REEs from end-of-life (EoL) electronic waste (e-waste) can help to mitigate the increasing gap between the demand and supply of REEs. This study reports the separation and recovery of high-purity Dy from various feedstocks such as scrap permanent magnets (SPMs), electric vehicle (EV) magnets, and mixed rare earth oxides (REOs) using an economically viable and scalable membrane solvent extraction (MSX) process. First, the optimized conditions (organic phase composition and feed solution acid concentration) for the separation of Dy from light REEs such as neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr) were evaluated using liquid–liquid extraction. Thereafter, a multistage MSX process was developed to separate high purity (>99.5 wt %) Dy from Nd and Pr using Cyanex 572, a cationic extractant. Using feedstocks with varying initial compositions, the MSX process obtained 100% pure Dy with 63–96% Dy recovery in three to six stages with a maximum extraction rate of 2.9 g m–2 h –1 . Purity of the recovered Dy was confirmed via additional characterization such as scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. This novel MSX process holds immense potential for industry deployment for the separation of heavy and light rare REEs from a wide range of e-waste.

electrical vehicle magnets↗
DOE OSTI2020

Spatially separating redox centers on 2D carbon nitride with cobalt single atom for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production

Redox cocatalysts play crucial roles in photosynthetic reactions, yet simultaneous loading of oxidative and reductive cocatalysts often leads to enhanced charge recombination that is detrimental to photosynthesis. This study introduces an approach to simultaneously load two redox cocatalysts, atomically dispersed cobalt for improving oxidation activity and anthraquinone for improving reduction selectivity, onto graphitic carbon nitride (C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production. Spatial separation of oxidative and reductive cocatalysts was achieved on a two-dimensional (2D) photocatalyst, by coordinating cobalt single atom above the void center of C 3 N 4 and anchoring anthraquinone at the edges of C 3 N 4 nanosheets. Such spatial separation, experimentally confirmed and computationally simulated, was found to be critical for enhancing surface charge separation and achieving efficient H 2 O 2 production. This center/edge strategy for spatial separation of cocatalysts may be applied on other 2D photocatalysts that are increasingly studied in photosynthetic reactions.

2D photocatalyst↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modulating metal-centered dimerization of a lanthanide chaperone protein for separation of light lanthanides

Elucidating details of biology’s selective uptake and trafficking of rare earth elements, particularly the lanthanides, has the potential to inspire sustainable biomolecular separations of these essential metals for myriad modern technologies. Here, we biochemically and structurally characterize Methylobacterium (Methylorubrum) extorquens LanD, a periplasmic protein from a bacterial gene cluster for lanthanide uptake. This protein provides only four ligands at its surface-exposed lanthanide-binding site, allowing for metal-centered protein dimerization that favors the largest lanthanide, La III . However, the monomer prefers Nd III and Sm III , which are disfavored lanthanides for cellular utilization. Structure-guided mutagenesis of a metal-ligand and an outer-sphere residue weakens metal binding to the LanD monomer and enhances dimerization for Pr III and Nd III by 100-fold. Selective dimerization enriches high-value Pr III and Nd III relative to low-value La III and Ce III in an all-aqueous process, achieving higher separation factors than lanmodulins and comparable or better separation factors than common industrial extractants. Finally, we show that LanD interacts with lanmodulin (LanM), a previously characterized periplasmic protein that shares LanD’s preference for Nd III and Sm III . Our results suggest that LanD’s unusual metal-binding site transfers less-desirable lanthanides to LanM to siphon them away from the pathway for cytosolic import. The properties of LanD show how relatively weak chelators can achieve high selectivity, and they form the basis for the design of protein dimers for separation of adjacent lanthanide pairs and other metal ions.

lanthanide biochemistry↗
DOE OSTI2022

Advanced Isotope Separation Technology for Fusion Fuel

Deuterium-tritium fusion is the easiest nuclear fusion reaction among known fusion reactions. Since tritium is extremely rare, it is artificially produced by irradiating lithium metal. The separation, isolation, and storage of the tritium isotope has been a major focus of the Savannah River Site (SRS) for many decades. Thermal diffusion, fractional absorption, and cryogenic distillation have all been used in the past, and each has significant operational and safety challenges. A process known as the Thermal Cycling Absorption Process (TCAP) was invented at SRS, and because of its overwhelming advantages in safety, efficiency, size, and reduced tritium inventory, it has replaced all other hydrogen isotope separation processes at SRS. Here, the working principles and current development of hydrogen isotope separation using TCAP at SRS are explained as a potential advanced isotope separation process for the fusion fuel cycle.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hybrid Li-S pouch cell with a reinforced sulfide glass solid-state electrolyte film separator

Here, in this paper, sulfide glass electrolyte powder with a nominal composition of (Li 2 S) 60 (SiS 2 ) 28 (P 2 S 5 ) 12 is hot pressed at a 330°C and 12 MPa into separator films using non-woven fiberglass reinforcement. The reinforced separator films are 93% dense, bendable, and have an ionic conductivity of 0.7 mS/cm at room temperature. When integrated into hybrid Li-S coin cells with liquid electrolyte, these reinforced glass separators blocked the parasitic polysulfide shuttle sufficiently to enable reversible cycling without LiNO 3 co-salt. Furthermore, the scalability of the reinforced glass separator technology is demonstrated by assembling and testing a hybrid single-layer pouch cell.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗