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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 739 records · Page 41

Measurement of the effective leptonic weak mixing angle

Using pp collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, recorded by the LHCb experiment between 2016 and 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb −1 , the forward-backward asymmetry in the pp → Z/γ* → μ + μ − process is measured. The measurement is carried out in ten intervals of the difference between the muon pseudorapidities, within a fiducial region covering dimuon masses between 66 and 116 GeV, muon pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5 and muon transverse momenta above 20 GeV. These forward-backward asymmetries are compared with predictions, at next-to-leading order in the strong and electroweak couplings. The measured effective leptonic weak mixing angle is ${\sin}^2{\theta}_{\textrm{eff}}^{\ell }=0.23147\pm 0.00044\pm 0.00005\pm 0.00023,$ where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second arises from systematic uncertainties associated with the asymmetry measurement, and the third arises from uncertainties in the fit model used to extract ${\sin}^2{\theta}_{\textrm{eff}}^{\ell }$ from the asymmetry measurement. This result is based on an arithmetic average of results using the CT18, MSHT20, and NNPDF31 parameterisations of the proton internal structure, and is consistent with previous measurements and with predictions from the global electroweak fit.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Advances and perspectives on mass transfer and enzymatic hydrolysis in the enzyme-mediated lignocellulosic biorefinery: A review

We report enzymatic hydrolysis is a critical process for the cellulase-mediated lignocellulosic biorefinery to produce sugar syrups that can be converted into a whole range of biofuels and biochemicals. Such a process operating at high-solid loadings (i.e., scarcely any free water or roughly ≥ 15% solids, w/w) is considered more economically feasible, as it can generate a high sugar concentration at low operation and capital costs. However, this approach remains restricted and incurs “high-solid effects”, ultimately causing the lower hydrolysis yields with increasing solid loadings. The lack of available water leads to a highly viscous system with impaired mixing that exhibits strong transfer resistance and reaction limitation imposed on enzyme action. Evidently, high-solid enzymatic hydrolysis involves multi-scale mass transfer and multi-phase enzyme reaction, and thus requires a synergistic perspective of transfer and biotransformation to assess the interactions among water, biomass components, and cellulase enzymes. Porous particle characteristics of biomass and its interface properties determine the water form and distribution state surrounding the particles, which are summarized in this review aiming to identify the water-driven multi-scale/multi-phase bioprocesses. Further aided by the cognition of rheological behavior of biomass slurry, solute transfer theories, and enzyme kinetics, the coupling effects of flow-transfer-reaction are revealed under high-solid conditions. Based on the above basic features, this review lucidly explains the causes of high-solid hydrolysis hindrances, highlights the mismatched issues between transfer and reaction, and more importantly, presents the advanced strategies for transfer and reaction enhancements from the viewpoint of process optimization, reactor design, as well as enzyme/auxiliary additive customization.

45 multi-scale, multi-phase, enzymatic reaction↗

Machine learning for domain transfer between simulated and experimental 2D X-ray diffraction patterns using generative adversarial networks

X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a well-established technique for analyzing materials at an atomic level. Dynamic compression experiments (DCE), in which materials are subject to extreme pressures, can provide fundamental understanding to pressure-induced phase transitions and compression of the crystal lattice. The analysis of XRD patterns from highly compressed samples is non-trivial given the sparsity of data, high experimental costs, and the fact that the data is often marred with X-ray background and other artifacts. While accurate computational frameworks exist, they solve the forward problem—from structures and orientations to XRD patterns. Solving the inverse problem for 2D experimental diffraction patterns is currently a complex manual process of matching and comparing experimentally observed patterns to computationally generated ones. Machine learning is a promising tool for automating the matching process but often requires data-intensive architectures. Here, in this study, we use a CycleGAN to translate the domain of limited experimental data to a domain in which there is readily available simulated data. This domain shift allows data-intensive machine learning models that have only been trained on simulated XRD patterns to be used in the analysis of experiments.

Brozak, Samantha Jean [Sandia National Laboratorie↗

Polycation ionic liquid tailored PEO-based solid polymer electrolytes for high temperature lithium metal batteries

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based polymer electrolytes are promising candidates for solid-state electrolytes in safer, next generation lithium metal batteries. Despite their benefits however, PEO-based electrolyte exhibits highly crystalline ethylene oxide chains that provide poor ionic conductivity and, thus severely limit its practical application. Here, we report the use of hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide chitosan salt (HACC-TFSI), which is an amorphous poly(ionic liquid) based biomass chitosan derivative, as a modifier for PEO-based solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) to address these deficiencies. Hybrid SPEs with HACC-TFSI display enlarged amorphous regions with enhanced ionic conductivity. Interactions between quaternary ammonium cations and TFSI-anions in hybrid SPEs are also found to promote dissociation between Li + and TFSI - , which further increases ionic mobility. Moreover, the electrochemical stability, mechanical strength, and thermal stability of hybrid SPEs are collectively superior to blank SPEs without HACC-TFSI. LiFePO 4 /SPEs/Li full-cells assembled using 10wt% HACC-TFSI in PEO (10%HACC-TFSI/SPEs) electrolyte provide a capacity of 161.3 mAh g -1 and operate with excellent cycle performances at 0.2 C and 60 C. Finally, even when the temperature is increased to 150 C, LiFePO 4 /SPEs/Li cells with 10%HACC-TFSI/SPEs still display remarkable cycle performance with 73% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 1 C rate.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Stable bismuth-antimony alloy cathode with a conversion-dissolution/deposition mechanism for high-performance zinc batteries

Although a large number of intercalation cathode materials for aqueous Zn batteries have been reported, limited intercalation capacity precludes achieving a higher energy density. Here, for this work, we develop a high-performance aqueous Zn battery based on BiSb alloy (Bi 0.5 Sb 0.5 ) using a high-concentrated strong-basic polyelectrolyte. We demonstrate that a conversion-dissolution/deposition electrochemical mechanism (BiSb ↔ Bi + SbO 2 – ↔ Bi + SbO 3 – ↔ Bi 2 O 3 ) through in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, and ex-situ X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) characterizations with the help of density functional theory calculations. The BiSb cathode delivers large capacity of 512 mAh g –1 at 0.3 Ag –1 and superior rate capability of 90 mAh g –1 even at 20 Ag –1 , and long-term cyclability with capacity retentions of 184 mAh g –1 after 600 cycles at 0.5 Ag –1 and 130 mAh g –1 after 1300 cycles at 1 Ag –1 . Remarkably, even at temperatures as low as –10 and –20 °C, capacities of 210 and 197 mAh g –1 are reserved at 1 Ag –1 , respectively. Moreover, the prepared pouch Zn//BiSb battery delivers a high energy density of 303 Wh kg –1 BiSb at 0.3 Ag –1 . When coupled with a high concentration polyelectrolyte, the Zn/BiSb battery exhibits an excellent performance over a wide temperature range (–40 to 40 °C). Our research reveals the metal cathode is promising for Zn batteries to achieve a high performance with the unique mechanism and alloys can be an effective approach to stabilize metal electrodes for cycling.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Nuclear Structure and Decay Data for A=220 Isobars

Here, this work presents a comprehensive and critical evaluation of experimental nuclear spectroscopic data from reactions and decays for all 11 known nuclides with mass number A=220 (Pb, Bi, Po, At, Rn, Fr, Ra, Ac, Th, Pa, and Np). Recommended values are produced for level energies, spins and parities, half-lives, and radiation properties including energies, branching ratios, and multipolarities of γ rays, as well as characteristics of β and α radiation decays, based on all available experimental data. This work supersedes previous A=220 evaluations: 2011Br05, 1997Ar04, 1986Ma45, 1976El04.

Chen, J. [Michigan State University, East Lansing,↗

Fast dynamic aperture optimization with forward-reversal integration

A fast dynamic aperture (DA) optimization method for storage rings has been developed through the use of reversal integration. Even if dynamical systems have an exact reversal symmetry, a numerical forward integration differs from its reversal. For a chaotic trajectory, cumulative round-off errors are scaled, which results in an exponential growth on the difference. The exponential effect is a generic chaos indicator which represents the sensitivity of the chaotic motion to its initial condition. The chaos indicator of the charged particle motion can be obtained by comparing the forward integrations of particle trajectories with corresponding reversals, a.k.a. “backward integrations.” The indicator is observable even through short-term particle tracking simulations. Therefore, adopting it as an objective function could speed up optimization. Finally, the DA of the National Synchrotron Light Source II storage ring, and another test diffraction-limited light source ring, were optimized using this method for the purpose of demonstration.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Engineering acid-base active sites on an N-doped biochar catalyst for microwave-assisted biodiesel production from waste cooking oil

Acid-base bifunctional catalysts play a crucial role in converting high-free fatty acid (FFA) feedstocks into biodiesel by enabling the simultaneous esterification and transesterification of triglycerides in a single step, thereby minimizing saponification and streamlining the process. In this study, we report the design and development of a novel N-doped acid-base bifunctional biochar catalyst synthesized from renewable biomass precursors- glucose and chitosan. The catalyst’s acidic sites were introduced via surface functionalization with o-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride, grafting -SO₃H groups onto the carbon framework, while basic sites were generated from amine functionalities (-NH) derived from chitosan, yielding a robust and truly bifunctional surface. The catalyst was characterized and used for the microwave-assisted transesterification of waste cooking oil, and process optimization using response surface methodology (RSM-CCD) yielding a maximum biodiesel yield of 98.8 ± 0.4% under optimal conditions (methanol-to-oil molar ratio 20:1, catalyst loading 5.7 wt%, temperature 99 °C, and reaction time 46.6 min). The catalyst demonstrated good stability, maintaining a yield of 92.2 ± 0.4% after eight reuse cycles. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted for 1 kg of biodiesel production revealed a global warming potential of 0.85 kg CO 2 eq and human toxicity potential of 1.59 kg 1,4-DB eq, with the largest environmental contributions arising from catalyst preparation and reuse. In conclusion, this work highlights a green and circular approach to biodiesel production, combining renewable catalyst design, waste feedstock utilization, and quantitative sustainability assessment to guide future developments in sustainable catalysis and biofuel engineering.

Bifunctional catalyst↗

A high-resolution planetary boundary layer height seasonal climatology from GNSS radio occultations

We present a new seasonal planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) climatology product derived from 14 years of Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation (GNSS-RO) data from multiple missions including COSMIC, TerraSAR-X, KOMPSAT-5, and PAZ. PBLH estimates are derived from the minimum gradients of retrieved refractivity profiles, with a vertical resolution of ~200 m. The climatology is obtained from occultations observed between June 2006 and December 2019, and is divided into land and ocean regimes on a 2-degree grid. We provide seasonal climatologies at 2-degree resolution as well as climatologies of diurnal cycle amplitude and phase at 5-degree resolution. The new GNSS PBLH climatology is compared to radiosonde data from the ship-based Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds (MAGIC) campaign in the subtropical northeast Pacific ocean and to previous GNSS PBLH climatology estimates. The higher spatial resolution reveals new details such as seasonal PBLH modulation due to sea ice off the coast of Antarctica. The PBLH product is the first publicly available at 2-degree resolution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗