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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 685 records · Page 38
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Effects of Synthesis and Processing on Optoelectronic Properties of Titanium Carbonitride MXene

MXenes, a relatively new class of two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal carbides, carbonitrides, and nitrides, exhibit unique properties such as high electronic conductivity, a wide range of optical characteristics, hydrophilicity, and mechanical stability. Because of the high electronic conductivity, MXenes have shown promise in many applications, such as energy storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, antennas, and transparent coatings. 2D titanium carbide (Ti 3 C 2 T x , where T x represents surface terminations), the first discovered and most studied MXene, has the highest electronic conductivity exceeding 10 000 S cm –1 . There have been several efforts to alter the conductivity of MXenes, such as manipulation of the transition-metal layer and control of surface terminations. However, the impact of the C and N site composition on electronic transport has not been explored. In this study, the effects of synthesis methods on optoelectronic properties of 2D titanium carbonitride, Ti 3 CNT x , were systematically investigated. We show that Ti 3 CNT x , which hosts a mix of carbon and nitrogen atoms in the X layer, has lower electronic conductivity and a blue shift of the main absorption feature within the UV–visible spectrum, compared to Ti 3 C 2 T x . Moreover, intercalants such as water and tetraalkylammonium hydroxides decrease the electronic conductivity of MXene due to increased interflake resistance, leading to an increase in resistivity with decreasing temperature as observed in ensemble transport measurements. When the intercalants are removed, Ti 3 CNT x exhibits its intrinsic metallic behavior in good agreement with Hall measurements and transport properties measured on single-flake field-effect transistor devices. Finally, the dependence of conductivity of Ti 3 CNT x on the presence of intercalants opens wide opportunities for creating MXene-based materials with tunable electronic properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Process Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis of a CO 2 Capture Process Using Fixed Bed Reactors with a Microencapsulated Solvent

A detailed model of a capsule containing sodium carbonate solution is developed here to study the microencapsulated carbon capture solvents (MECS). A rigorous vapor–liquid equilibrium model is developed for the Na 2 CO 3 –CO 2 –H 2 O system, where liquid-phase nonideality is modeled by the electrolyte nonrandom two-liquid model. The data from the experiments conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is used to obtain a maximum likelihood estimate of the initial solvent concentration inside the capsules and the parameters for the capsule model. A nonisothermal, dynamic model of a fixed bed contactor filled with these capsules is then developed. In addition to direct steam injection, indirect heating using an embedded heat exchanger is modeled for desorption. Finally, the model is used to simulate temperature swing absorption and desorption cycles. The results of these studies indicate that there is an optimal residence time or superficial flue gas velocity to minimize the bed volume. However, the total energy requirement for desorption monotonically decreases with increased residence time as the proportion of the sensible heat to the total regeneration heat keeps decreasing. Furthermore, heat recovery from the bed is crucial to keep energy penalty for regeneration low. A techno-economic analysis is conducted, and the equivalent annual operating cost (EAOC) is analyzed for two different reactor materials (concrete and carbon-steel) and compared with a system using a conventional monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent. In this work, the minimum EAOC for the MECS fixed bed configuration is approximately 1.8–2.7 times higher than the EAOC for an MEA system with a similar amount of heat recovery (85%). The impact of ±50% uncertainty in the capital cost estimate is also evaluated, and the minimum EAOC is 1.5 times higher than the MEA technology for 85% heat recovery. These results using microencapsulated sodium carbonate solution are a starting point that sets an upper limit on the cost of the MECS carbon-capture system. Improvements to the MECS capsules (e.g., using a higher carbonate concentration and lowering the shell mass transfer resistance) and also exploring other contactor technologies are expected to decrease the system cost and make it more competitive.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Confinement and Processing Can Alter the Morphology and Periodicity of Bottlebrush Block Copolymers in Thin Films

Bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) are intriguing architectural variations on linear BCPs with highly tunable structure. Confinement can have a significant impact on polymer assembly, giving rise to changes in morphology, assembly kinetics, and properties like the glass transition. Given that confinement leads to significant changes in the persistence length of bottlebrush homopolymers, it is reasonable to expect that BBCPs will see significant changes in their structure and periodicity relative to the bulk morphology. Understanding how confinement influences assembly will be important for designing BBCPs for thin film applications including membranes, integrated photonic structures, and potentially BCP lithography. In this work, in order to study the effects of confinement on BBCP conformation and morphology, a blade coating was used to prepare films with continuous variation in film thickness. Unlike thin films of linear BCPs, islands/holes were not observed, and instead mixtures of parallel and perpendicular morphologies emerge after annealing. The lamellar periodicity ($L_0$) of the morphologies is found to be thickness dependent, increasing $L_0$ with decreasing film thickness for blade coated films. Films coated out of tetrahydrofuran (THF) resulted in a single well-defined lamellar periodicity, verified through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), which increases dramatically from the bulk value (30.6 nm) and continues to increase as the film thickness decreases. The largest observed $L_0$ was 65.5 nm, and this closely approaches the estimated upper limit of 67 nm corresponding to a fully extended backbone in a bilayer arrangement. Films coated out of propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA) resulted in a mixture of perpendicular lamellae and a smaller, likely cylindrical morphology. The lamellar portion of the film shows the same thickness dependence as the lamellae observed in the THF coated films. The scaling of the lamellar $L_0$ with respect to film thickness follows predictions for confined semiflexible polymers with weak excluded volume interactions and can be related to models for confinement of DNA. Spin coated films shows the same reduction in periodicity, although at very different film thicknesses. This result suggests that the material has shallow free-energy barriers to transitioning between different $L_0$ and morphologies, a property that could be taken advantage of for patterning diverse structures with a single material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Photostability of Ambient-Processed, Conjugated Polymer Electrochromic Devices Encapsulated by Bioderived Barrier Films

Polymer-based electrochromic devices (ECDs) are a promising technology for enabling low-voltage, disposable displays, yet are currently limited by photo-oxidative bleaching of the active materials. Here, renewable barrier films composed of cellulose and chitin are presented as an alternative to poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) for encapsulating ECDs. To assess barrier film effectiveness, lateral ECDs composed of poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene-(CH 2 OEtHx) 2 ) (P(ProDOT)) active layers were constructed and encapsulated with a multilayer barrier consisting of chitin nanofibers and cellulose nanocrystals spray cast onto a cellulose acetate substrate (oxygen transmission rate (OTR) = 29 cm 3 m –2 day –1 ), a commercially available PET film (OTR = 8.5 cm 3 m –2 day –1 ), and a high-performance PET-Al 2 O 3 multilayer barrier film (OTR < 1 cm 3 m –2 day –1 ). The photodegradation of the P(ProDOT) active layer was determined by measuring the evolution of the colorimetric contrast (ΔE*) and switching speeds as a function of light exposure (100 mW cm –2 , AM 1.5 G light). Photodegradation was found to proceed at a similar rate for all encapsulated devices (roughly 10 times more slowly than unencapsulated devices), highlighting the opportunity for replacing petroleum packaging with bioderived barrier films. Analysis of the switching kinetics, the shifts in optical absorbance, and evidence of chemical degradation indicate that both photochemical breakdown of the electrolyte and cross-linking of the P(ProDOT) active material are key drivers for loss of device performance when oxygen flux to the active material is limited. Furthermore, pathways toward better understanding photodegradation are then proposed with sustainability in mind for future ECD design.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗