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Results for “surface effects”
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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Real surface effects on radiative heat transfer
Radiative heat transfer for system of radiatively interacting opaque surfaces separated by radiatively transparent medium
Catalytic surface effects experiment on the Space Shuttle
A Space Shuttle experiment planned to measure the surface catalytic efficiency of the baseline high-temperature reusable surface insulation (HRSI) during earth entry is described. A spray-on overcoat, with high catalytic efficiency, will be used as a comparative basis for determining the HRSI surface catalytic efficiency through surface temperature measurement. Catalytic efficiency, as well as aerothermal response of the overcoat, was evaluated, using various models made of HRSI material in arc-plasma flow environments. Agreement is obtained between the measured and computed heating rise of the coated surfaces. Computed predictions for the flight case are presented.
First-principles study of quantum confinement and surface effects on the electronic properties of InAs nanowires
We have used first principles methods to systematically investigate the quantum confinement effect on the electronic properties of zinc-blende (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) InAs nanowires (NWs) with different orientations and diameters, and compared their electronic properties before and after pseudo-hydrogen passivation. The results show that the calculated carrier effective masses are dependent on the NW diameter, except for [110] ZB NWs, and the hole effective masses of [111] ZB NWs are larger than the electron effective masses when the NW diameter is ≥26 Å. The band alignments of [111] ZB and [0001] WZ NWs reveal that the effect of quantum confinement on the conduction bands is greater than on the valence bands, and the position of the valence band maximum level changes little with increasing NW diameter. The pseudo-hydrogen passivated NWs have larger band gaps than the corresponding unpassivated NWs. The carrier effective masses and mobilities can be adjusted by passivating the surface dangling bonds.
Strong surface effect on direct bulk flexoelectric response in solids
In the framework of a continuum theory, it is shown that the direct bulk flexoelectric response of a finite sample essentially depends on the surface polarization energy, even in the thermodynamic limit where the body size tends to infinity. It is found that a modification of the surface energy can lead to a change in the polarization response by a factor of two. The origin of the effect is an electric field produced by surface dipoles induced by the strain gradient. The unexpected sensitivity of the polarization response to the surface energy in the thermodynamic limit is conditioned by the fact that the moments of the surface dipoles may scale as the body size.
Properties of real metallic surfaces: Effects of density functional semilocality and van der Waals nonlocality
Significance It is primarily at their surfaces that solids interact with their environments. What is the physics behind the measurable properties of clean metallic surfaces? To answer this question, we calculate surface energies, work functions, and surface interlayer relaxations for aluminum and seven d -electron metals, using a sequence of exchange-correlation density functionals of increasing sophistication. While the simplest one, the local density approximation, works well through error cancellation, the usually more realistic Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof functional underestimates both surface energies and work functions. The more advanced functionals, including the new strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) and SCAN+rVV10, demonstrate the unexpected importance of intermediate and long-range van der Waals attraction (seamlessly included in the random phase approximation).
Rethinking CO adsorption on transition-metal surfaces: Effect of density-driven self-interaction errors
Adsorption of the molecule CO on metallic surfaces is an important unsolved problem in Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT). We present a detailed study of carbon monoxide adsorption on fcc (111) surfaces of 3d, 4d, and 5d metals using nonempirical semilocal density functionals for the exchange-correlation energy: the local-density approximation (LDA), two generalized gradient approximations or GGAs [Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) and PBE for solids (PBEsol)], and a meta-GGA [strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) functional]. The typical error pattern (as found earlier for free molecules and for free transition-metal surfaces), in which results improve from LDA to PBE or PBEsol to SCAN, due to the satisfaction of more exact constraints, is not found here. Instead, for CO adsorption on transition-metal surfaces, we find that, while SCAN overbinds much less than LDA, it overbinds slightly more than PBE. Moreover, the tested functionals often predict the wrong adsorption site, as first pointed out for LDA and GGA in the CO/Pt (111) puzzle. This abnormal pattern leads us to suspect that the errors of PBE and SCAN for this problem are density-driven self-interaction errors associated with incorrect charge transfer between molecule and metal surface. We point out that, by the variational principle, overbinding by an approximate functional would be reduced if that functional were applied not to its self-consistent density for the adsorbed system but to an exact or more correct density for that system. Finally, we show for CO on Pt(111) that the site preference is corrected and the adsorption energy is improved for the PBE functional by using not the self-consistent PBE density but a PBE+U density. The resulting correction to the PBE total energy is much larger for the adsorbed system than for its desorbed components, showing that the error is in the density of the adsorbed system. Furthermore, this seems to solve the Feibelman 2001 CO/Pt(111) puzzle, in principle if not fully in practice.
Surface effects and the role of propylene during the partial oxidation of propane in a flow reactor
Reactor surface and propylene role during vapor phase partial oxidation of propane in continuous flow tubular reactors
Surface effects on deuterium permeation through vanadium membranes
Dense vanadium-based membranes offer high permeability and perfect selectivity to hydrogen isotopes, maintain favorable neutronic properties, and are compatible with liquid metals such as PbLi. These properties make vanadium membranes a promising fusion fuel cycle technology for processes such as tritium extraction from PbLi and exhaust processing. Surface contamination has a deleterious effect on the gas-phase hydrogen permeation through vanadium, and the reported permeabilities range from 10 -14 to 10 -7 mol m -1 s -1 Pa -0.5 . Thin dense films of palladium applied to clean vanadium surfaces enable a consistently high hydrogen permeability. In this study, uncoated vanadium resulted in deuterium permeabilities ranging from 2.8 × 10 -11 to 6.4 × 10 -9 mol m -1 s -1 Pa -0.5 at 300 °C–700 °C, respectively. Post-test analysis revealed a VO x surface layer and VC x subsurface layer formed on the feed side, while the as-received surface oxide dissolved leaving a submonolayer oxide on the permeate surface. Furthermore, the Pd-coated V resulted in a maximum deuterium permeability of 2.1 × 10 -7 m -1 s -1 Pa -0.5 at 375 °C upon activation of the Pd surface by oxidation and reduction. The deuterium permeation declined upon heating to 500 °C due to intermetallic diffusion between the Pd and V. The Mo 2 C-coated V resulted in deuterium permeabilities ranging from 2.7 × 10 -10 to 1.8 × 10-9 at 500 °C–700 °C, respectively, and a post-test analysis found the carbon in the Mo 2 C layer had dissolved into the V near the interface.
Evaluation of CFD for Simulation of High-Supersonic Control Surface Effectiveness
This is the set of slides describing the CFD and wind-tunnel test studying the control surfaces of the CobraMRV concept for entry, descent, and landing on Mars. Difference between the CFD and wind-tunnel results are highlighted with the intent of showing whether CFD can replace wind-tunnel testing in the high supersonic flight regime.
Analytical studies of contact of nominally flat surfaces - Effect of previous loading
Previous plastic loading deformation effect on contact area, print number, size distribution and thermal conductivity for flat surfaces
Interplay of energy dissipation, ion-induced mixing, and crystal structure recovery, and surface effects in ion-irradiated magnetic Fe/Cr/Fe trilayers
The influence of the ion irradiation by 30 keV Ga{sup +} ions on the crystal structure, chemical ordering, magnetic properties, and topography of epitaxial Fe/Cr/Fe trilayers was investigated by different analytical techniques. We present direct experimental evidence, supported by theoretical estimates, that two processes take place concurrently due to the Ga-ion implantation. (i) A complete atom mixing of the Cr atoms within the Fe multilayers is occurring due to the collision cascades during the ballistic regime, and (ii) an essentially complete recovery of the initial single-crystal quality of the Fe multilayers by healing the melted and damaged area through the thermal spike phase occurs. Based on the experimental range distributions and theoretical modeling, channeling of Ga{sup +} ions in the experiments is found to contribute weakly to ion penetration and stopping, and the relative fraction of the well-channeled ions is marginally small. On the other hand, this weak channeling is sufficient to reduce the sputter yield by a factor of more than 5 in comparison with the sputtering of polycrystalline samples, evidence for the fact that the magnitude of channeling is not of primary importance for the sputtering. We offer an explanation for the observation of dramatic and abrupt changes in the surface roughness with increasing fluences in terms of a transformation from a single-phase single-crystal implanted region (bcc-Fe) to a mixture of the polycrystalline {alpha}-Fe-like bcc and {alpha}-Fe{sub 3}Ga structures within the outer half of the original Fe/Cr/Fe trilayer at fluences above 6.25 x 10{sup 16} ion/cm{sup 2}. The wall-like elevations appearing at the boundary of the irradiated areas were analyzed experimentally by varying the irradiation conditions. We showed that the wall size is governed by the ion-current density applied. A physical explanation for the appearance of such topographic features is presented, which would be valid for any material irradiated by a focused ion beam.
Concurrent Amorphization and Nanocatalyst Formation in Cu‐Substituted Perovskite Oxide Surface: Effects on Oxygen Reduction Reaction at Elevated Temperatures
Abstract The activity and durability of chemical/electrochemical catalysts are significantly influenced by their surface environments, highlighting the importance of thoroughly examining the catalyst surface. Here, Cu‐substituted La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3‐δ is selected, a state‐of‐the‐art material for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), to explore the real‐time evolution of surface morphology and chemistry under a reducing atmosphere at elevated temperatures. Remarkably, in a pioneering observation, it is discovered that the perovskite surface starts to amorphize at an unusually low temperature of approximately 100 °C and multicomponent metal nanocatalysts additionally form on the amorphous surface as the temperature raises to 400 °C. Moreover, this investigation into the stability of the resulting amorphous layer under oxidizing conditions reveals that the amorphous structure can withstand a high‐temperature oxidizing atmosphere (≥650 °C) only when it has undergone sufficient reduction for an extended period. Therefore, the coexistence of the active nanocatalysts and defective amorphous surface leads to a nearly 100% enhancement in the electrode resistance for the ORR over 200 h without significant degradation. These observations provide a new catalytic design strategy for using redox‐dynamic perovskite oxide host materials.
An experimental and analytical study of real surface effects on radiant heat transfer
Comparison of experimental data with predictions based on simple and more detailed models for radiation properties of surfaces
Electric current induced flow of liquid metals: Mechanism and substrate-surface effects
Long range, continuous flow of liquid metals occurs upon application of an electric current. Here, we report experimental results elucidating the mechanism of current-induced liquid metal flow, and its dependence on substrate surface condition. It is shown that the observed flow is diffusion-controlled, with the flow-rate depending linearly on applied current density, indicating that it is driven by electromigration. The effective charge number for liquid electromigration, Z*, of several pure metals, such as Al, Bi, Ga, Sn, and Pb, were deduced from the experimental results and were found to be close to the elemental valency. With the exception of liquid Pb, Z* for all liquid metals tested in this study were positive, indicating that: (i) electron wind contributes much less to Z* in liquid metals than in solids, and (ii) with a few exceptions, liquid metals generally flow in the direction of the electric current. On smooth substrates which are wetted well by the liquid metal, flow occurs in a thin, continuous stream. On rough surfaces which are poorly wetted, on the other hand, discrete beads of liquid form, with mass transport between adjacent beads occurring by surface diffusion on the substrate. A rationale for the role of substrate roughness in fostering this observed transition in flow mechanism is presented.
Surface effects on the microwave backscatter and emission of snow
Measurements were performed with active and passive microwave sensors for both dry and wet snow conditions. A layer of Rayleigh scatterers with irregular surface boundaries is found to be a reasonable model for interpreting passive and active measurements in X- and Ku-bands. It was found that roughness had a significant effect on both backscatter and emission from wet snow; however, only a small effect was noted for dry snow.
Room-temperature activation of methane and dry re-forming with CO 2 on Ni-CeO 2 (111) surfaces: Effect of Ce 3+ sites and metal–support interactions on C–H bond cleavage
The results of core-level photoemission indicate that Ni-CeO 2 (111) surfaces with small or medium coverages of nickel are able to activate methane at 300 K, producing adsorbed CH x and CO x (x = 2, 3) groups. Calculations based on density functional theory predict a relatively low activation energy of 0.6–0.7 eV for the cleavage of the first C–H bond in the adsorbed methane molecule. Ni and O centers of ceria work in a cooperative way in the dissociation of the C–H bond at room temperature, where a low Ni loading is crucial for the catalyst activity and stability. The strong electronic perturbations in the Ni nanoparticles produced by the ceria supports of varying natures, such as stoichiometric and reduced, result in a drastic change in their chemical properties toward methane adsorption and dissociation as well as the dry reforming of methane reaction. Lastly, the coverage of Ni has a drastic effect on the ability of the system to dissociate methane and catalyze the dry re-forming process.
Real Surface Effects in Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication
Following a general discussion of real effects in EHL, consideration is given in detail to the role played by stochastic roughness superimposed on the nominal solid boundaries. Particular attention is given to the full-film EHL regime where incipient asperity contact bears a negligible fraction of the load. Flow, from which an averaged Reynolds equation can be formed, is nonetheless modified by the amplitude and texture of the roughness patterns. In describing these effects by means of certain well-defined flow factors, it is found that only two extra parameters are needed - the rms surface height and the ratio of the correlation lengths in the two principal roughness directions. In a lowest order perturbation expansion of these flow factors in powers of the ratio of rms roughness to nominal film thickness, no other properties of the roughness appear. In most cases of practical interest, the factors describing Poiseuille flow are separable into the sum of two single-surface flow factors which means that a combination of a single equivalent rough surface versus an ideal smooth surface can always be found. For flow entrained by slip velocity the factors separate instead into a difference of single-surface factors and it becomes significant which of the two surfaces carries the equivalent roughness. Results are discussed of some applications of the averaged Reynolds equation based on the flow factor method to the EHL line contact problem. Finally, the partial EHL regime is considered where comparable load fractions are carried by the hydrodynamic film and by incipient mechanical contact. An extension of the method into this regime by combining it with asperity contact models appears most encouraging.