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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 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Spatiotemporal Studies of Soluble Inorganic Nanostructures with X‐rays and Neutrons

This Review addresses the use of X-ray and neutron scattering as well as X-ray absorption to describe how inorganic nanostructured materials assemble, evolve, and function in solution. We first provide an overview of techniques and instrumentation (both large user facilities and benchtop). We review recent studies of soluble inorganic nanostructure assembly, covering the disciplines of materials synthesis, processes in nature, nuclear materials, and the widely applicable fundamental processes of hydrophobic interactions and ion pairing. Reviewed studies cover size regimes and length scales ranging from sub-Ångström (coordination chemistry and ion pairing) to several nanometers (molecular clusters, i.e. polyoxometalates, polyoxocations, and metal-organic polyhedra), to the mesoscale (supramolecular assembly processes). Reviewed studies predominantly exploit 1) SAXS/WAXS/SANS (small- and wide-angle X-ray or neutron scattering), 2) PDF (pair-distribution function analysis of X-ray total scattering), and 3) XANES and EXAFS (X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure, respectively). While the scattering techniques provide structural information, X-ray absorption yields the oxidation state in addition to the local coordination. Our goal for this Review is to provide information and inspiration for the inorganic/materials science communities that may benefit from elucidating the role of solution speciation in natural and synthetic processes.

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

Complementing Nanoscale Galvanic Exchange with Redox Manipulation toward Architectural Control of Multimetallic Hollow Nanostructures

Galvanic exchange occurring within the confinement by nanoparticulate templates provides a unique pathway to controllably transform solid metallic nanoparticles into architecturally more sophisticated multimetallic hollow nanostructures under facile reaction conditions. As such, in this Minireview, we elaborately discuss how the nanoparticle-templated galvanic exchange can be deliberately coupled with redox manipulation to synthesize a large library of complex multimetallic hollow nanostructures exhibiting precisely tailored architectures and compositions, with a particular emphasis on important mechanistic insights concerning the dynamic interplay among multiple structure-remodeling processes that synergistically dictate the versatile nanoparticle transforming behaviors during kinetically and regioselectively modulated galvanic exchange reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Photochromism of Composite Organometallic Nanostructures Based on Diarylethenes. II. Vibrational Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemistry Studies

The structure and photochromic transformations of nanostructured organometallic composites consisting of Ag nanoparticles with shells of photochromic diarylethenes (DAEs) deposited from various solutions onto the nanoparticles were studied using infrared absorption and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) vibrational spectroscopy and quantum chemistry. The studied nanostructures exhibited photochromic properties manifested as reversible photoinduced changes of the relative intensities of SERS bands related to vibrations of bonds participating in the reversible photoisomerization. Spectral manifestations of chemical interaction between metal nanoparticles and DAE molecules were detected.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Monte Carlo Study of the Core-Shell Phase Transitions in Nanostructure Systems

We present in this work the effects of the external magnetic field, the exchange anisotropy, the coupling exchange interaction and the temperature on the magnetic properties of the nanostructure systems. More exactly, the effect of the core-shell spin Ising systems has been also examined. A number of favorable phenomena such as the wetting magnetic and the layering transitions have been investigated. The Monte Carlo simulations have been used to investigate the behavior of these nanostructure systems and to obtain the interesting results presented in the form of the phase diagrams.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tunable Optical Behaviour and Room Temperature Ferromagnetism of Cobalt-Doped BaSnO{sub 3} Nanostructures

In this work, the effect of Co doping on the structural, vibrational, morphological, optical and magnetic behaviour of BaSnO{sub 3} nanostructures is reported. Pure and Co (1,3, and 5%)-doped barium stannate (BSO) nanostructures were prepared by conventional hydrothermal technique followed by calcination at 900 °C for 5 h. The single crystalline cubic phase was identified by XRD analysis and structural distortions associated with Co doping were evidenced by variation in microstarin and crystallite size. FTIR and Raman studies further confirm the structural quality of the prepared samples. FESEM analysis revealed the mixed morphology of prepared samples, and the chemical compositions of all the samples were analysed using EDAX studies. The absorption studies revealed the incorporation of dopant ions and their effect on the bandgap subsequently in samples. The presence of defects and paramagnetic centres in the samples were confirmed by PL and EPR analyses. Magnetization studies demonstrated that pure BSO exhibits characteristic diamagnetism at room temperature and the addition of Co into Ba–Sn–O lattice drives the F-centre exchange interactions which results in the ferromagnetic behaviour. Hence, the occurrence of diamagnetic to ferromagnetic transition at room temperature with addition of Co as a dopant was identified.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Wave-Vector Filtering Effect in a Novel Magnetic Nanostructure with Zero Average Magnetic Field

We report a theoretical investigation on wave-vector filtering (WVF) effect in a magnetic nanostructure, which can be experimentally realized by depositing ferromagnetic (FM) stripes on the surface of GaAs/Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As heterostructure. An appreciable WVF effect appears in this nanosystem. The WVF efficiency is associated with structural parameters of magnetic nanostructure. Therefore, such a device can be employed as a momentum filter for nanoelectronics device applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Optical characterization of nanostructured Ge{sub 1 − x}Sn{sub x}Se{sub 2.5} (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5) films

The paper reports the optical properties of thin films of nanostructured Ge{sub 1 − x}Sn{sub x}Se{sub 2.5} (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5) glassy alloys. The glassy alloys of Ge{sub 1 − x}Sn{sub x}Se{sub 2.5} (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5) were prepared using melt quenching method. Thin films of nanostructured Ge{sub 1 − x}Sn{sub x}Se{sub 2.5} (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5) glassy alloys were prepared using physical vapor deposition method. The films were characterized using XRD, EDX and TEM, which confirmed the amorphous nature, composition and formation of nanorods in the samples. Absorption and transmission spectra of thin films were recorded in the spectral range 400–2500 nm to obtain energy band gap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric constant etc. Results show that refractive index increases while band gap decreases on increase of Sn content in the Ge–Se system. This is due to the increase in density of defect states within band gap. The values of Urbach energy support the obtained results.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Photocatalytic activity of anatase titanium dioxide nanostructures prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering technique

In this work, nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) photocatalysts with high optical and structural homogeneity were successfully synthesized by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The TiO{sub 2} thin films were produced with high structural homogeneity without any heat treatment. Analysis of the X-ray diffraction patterns and UV–visible spectroscopy gave an indication that the structure of prepared films is anatase with energy band gap of 3.23 eV. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy has confirmed the formation of Ti–O bond. The average size of TiO{sub 2} particles in the deposited films was ranging in 5–7 nm. These nanostructures are very applicable as photocatalysts as their photocatalytic activity was determined from the degradation rate with UV irradiation time as the first order reaction rate constant was determined to be 2.4 × 10{sup −3} min{sup −1}.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dynamic Processes in Nanostructured Crystals Under Ion Irradiation

The paper presents detailed investigations of dynamic processes occurring in nanostructured Si(Fe) material under the radiation exposure, namely: heating, thermoelastic stress generation, elastic disturbances of the surrounding medium similar to weak shock waves, and dislocation generation. The performance calculations are proposed for elastic properties of the nanostructured material with a glance to size effects in nanoparticles.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Nanostructure and Composition of Tribo-Boundary Films Formed in Ionic Liquid Lubrication

Since the idea of using ionic liquids (ILs) as lubricants was raised in 2001, many studies have been conducted in this area and results have demonstrated superior lubricating performance for a variety of ionic liquids. It is widely believed that tribochemical reactions occur between the metal surface and the IL during the wear process to form a protective tribo-boundary film on the contact area that reduces friction and wear. However, the study of this critical boundary film has been limited to top surface two-dimensional topography examination and chemical analysis in the literature. A more comprehensive characterization is needed to help understand the film formation process and the lubricating mechanism. This study demonstrated a multi-technique three-dimensional approach to characterize the IL-formed boundary films, including top surface morphology examination, cross section nanostructure characterization, and layered chemical analysis. Characterization was carried out on both ferrous and aluminum surfaces lubricated by an ammonium IL. The focused-ion-beam (FIB) technique enabled TEM/EDS examination on the cross section of the boundary film to provide direct measurement of the film thickness, visualization of the nanostructure, and analysis of composition. In addition, composition-depth profiles were generated using XPS aided by ion-sputtering to reveal the composition change at different levels of the boundary film to investigate the film formation process.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nanostructured CVD Tungsten Carbide Coating on Aircraft Actuators and Gearbox Shafts Reduces Oil Leakage and Improves Durability

Wear and corrosion of aircraft actuator parts, helicopter gearbox rotating shafts and wear of seals working against these parts can lead to oil leaks which require expensive maintenance and increase the risk of failure. The Hardide® nanostructured chemical vapor deposition (CVD) Tungsten Carbide coating was tested on metal parts working against seals as an approach to reduce oil leakage from gearboxes and actuators and increase maintenance intervals. The coating protects metal pistons and shafts from abrasion and corrosion, keeping their surface roughness parameters within optimum ranges for longer; this reduces seal wear and makes the whole unit more durable and reliable. The 50-100 micron-thick CVD Hardide coating can be applied uniformly on internal and external surfaces and has enhanced fatigue and anti-galling properties. The coating has high wear resistance outperforming Hard Chrome by 14 times and Thermal Spray WC-Co (12%) by three times. The fine-grain coating nanostructure wears uniformly so even worn Hardide coating shows no hard micro-grain asperities which are abrasive for seals. The coating is free from porosity and from Cobalt binder and is an effective barrier against corrosion. As a result the coating keeps the optimal seal-friendly surface finish for longer even in abrasive and corrosive environments. The coating was qualified by Airbus as an environmentally friendly replacement for Hard Chrome plating.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of a heterogeneous nanostructure through abnormal recrystallization of a nanotwinned Ni superalloy

This work explores the development of a heterogeneous nanostructured material through leveraging abnormal recrystallization, which is a prominent phenomenon in coarse-grained Ni-based superalloys. Additionally, through synthesis of a sputtered Inconel 725 film with a heterogeneous distribution of stored energy and subsequent aging treatments at 730°C, a unique combination of grain sizes and morphologies was observed throughout the thickness of the material. Three distinct domains are formed in the aged microstructure, where abnormally large grains are observed in-between a nanocrystalline and a nanotwinned region. In order to investigate the transitions towards a heterogeneous structure, crystallographic orientation and elemental mapping at interval aging times up to 8 h revealed the microstructural evolution and precipitation behavior. From the experimental observations and the detailed analysis of this study, the current methodology can be utilized to further expand the design space of current heterogeneous nanostructured materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quantification of grain rotation in bulk nanostructured copper via in situ heating white beam synchrotron X-ray diffraction

Grain rotation during microstructural relaxation under heating is conventionally studied extensively through transmission electron microscopy and simulations. However, there is a shortage in examining grain rotations at larger length and volume scales in bulk materials. It is critical to understand the thermal stability of bulk nanostructured metals, since those enhanced mechanical properties have been well recognized. Here, this study aimed to employ a white beam microdiffraction X-ray technique under in situ heating from 300 K to 1073 K at 12 K/min on a nanostructured copper processed by high-pressure torsion, yielding an initial grain size of ∼260 nm before the heating. Evaluation across a wide range of temperatures reveals transition temperatures associated with microstructural relaxation processes. By tracking separate Laue diffraction peaks stemming from individual grains, changes in their orientations can be estimated and quantified. This approach becomes particularly effective when the number of grains within the probed volume is reasonably small. At temperatures above 940 K, about 7.5 % of Cu grains are rotating at speeds of ∼2 × 10 –3 °/s. The radial direction of the disk specimen is found to be the preferred direction of grain rotation, with the rotation axis along the shear direction. Further analysis found no correlation between peak intensity and peak size, related to grain sizes and deviatoric strain, respectively, with rotation conditions or speed. These findings demonstrate that the diffraction technique utilizing white beam X-rays is a complementary and novel characterization tool for understanding microstructural evolution, especially in grain rotations, of bulk crystalline materials.

Grain orientation↗
DOE OSTI2026

Nonequilibrium defect-phase nanostructures stabilized by irradiation in undersaturated Ni-Si nanocrystalline alloy

Nanocrystalline thin films of the undersaturated alloy Ni-8.5 at% Si were subjected to 2 MeV Ti irradiation at temperatures ranging from 450˚C to 550˚C. Correlative microscopy combining transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning-TEM and atom probe tomography (APT revealed that large dose irradiation at 450˚C of samples with initial grain sizes below 100 nm stabilized a novel nanostructure which surprisingly contained three co-existing phases, the γ face-centered-cubic (FCC) matrix, γ' L12 ordered precipitates on intragranular dislocation loops and Ni 31 Si 12 precipitates at triple junctions (TJs). In contrast, irradiation at 550˚C and irradiation of larger grain-size samples at 450˚C only produced a γ-γ' two-phase coexistence. Analysis of the three-phase nanostructure and phase field simulations indicates that radiation-induced segregation is most pronounced at TJs, thus triggering the formation of Ni 31 Si 12 precipitates. These incoherent precipitates, in turn, are expected to stabilize the grain size under irradiation. The results are generalized using the concept of driven defect-phases. It is suggested that the stabilization of driven defect-phases may impart radiation resilience by providing localized relaxation modes to the microstructure evolution during and after temporary perturbations in irradiation conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nanostructural evolution of Al(OH)3 gel formed by the cubic and orthorhombic ye'elimite clinkers of calcium sulfoaluminate cements in an ultra-wide hydration temperature range

This paper investigated the influence of hydration temperature on the nanostructure of the AH{sub 3} phase formed in calcium sulfoaluminate cements. Orthorhombic ye'elimite (st-ye'elimite) and cubic ye'elimite (ss-ye'elimite) were hydrated in an ultra-wide temperature range (5–220 °C). Results showed that the AH{sub 3} phase formed by ss-ye'elimite was always microcrystalline in nature at various curing temperatures (5–130 °C), and transformed into the AlOOH phase at 150 °C and above. However, the AH{sub 3} phase formed by st-ye'elimite grew from a microcrystal to a favorable crystal as the temperature increased, and transformed into the AlOOH phase at 170 °C and above. The nanostructure of hydration products was further investigated using TEM/SAED analysis together with FE-SEM images, directly evidencing that the formed AFm-12 phase was single-crystal in nature, and the formed AH{sub 3} phase was microcrystalline at low temperatures and grew into single-crystal hexagonal prisms with the preferred growth direction along [001] direction at high temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Impacts of advanced diesel combustion operation and fuel formulation on soot nanostructure and reactivity

Advanced diesel combustion, accomplished via a single pulse fuel injection and high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (referred to as “PCCI”, partially-premixed charge compression ignition), is shown to be a path to reduce oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter simultaneously. This is well established in the literature. Less established is the extent to which such dilute combustion processes influence soot formation and affect soot that is emitted from diesel engines under such combustion modes. This work focuses on characterization of the nanostructure and oxidative reactivity of soot generated by a light-duty turbodiesel engine operating under a PCCI combustion mode, a dilute, low-temperature combustion process. Previous work on a type of PCCI combustion, referred to as high-efficiency clean combustion (HECC), showed soot samples having a fullerenic nanostructure, characterized by high levels of tortuosity of the fringe layers as seen in transmission electron micrograph images and as quantified using an image processing algorithm. Thermogravimetric analysis of the HECC mode soot samples showed that they displayed higher rates of oxidation than soot samples from a conventional diesel combustion mode. The present work returns to PCCI combustion, considering the timing of the main fuel injection, and the effects of operating on fuels rich in n-alkanes, particularly a fuel produced from a low temperature Fischer-Tropsch process (LTFT) and a renewable diesel fuel (RD) produced via hydrodeoxygenation of a plant oil. PCCI combustion conditions yield soot that shows higher reactivity compared to soot from the conventional combustion mode regardless of fuel type. LTFT and RD fuels produce soots with lower reactivity compared to ULSD. Soots produced from PCCI combustion have higher surface oxygen concentration and higher proportion of amorphous carbon. In addition, TEM images show that PCCI soots from all three fuels have smaller primary particle and particle aggregate sizes, and smaller graphene layers. These properties explain the higher reactivity of soot from PCCI combustion. The less reactive soots, which are produced from LTFT and RD fuel under conventional combustion, show internal burning during oxidation. However, soots with higher reactivity which are produced from late injection PCCI combustion and ULSD show shrinking core oxidation, most likely because of their overall amorphous structure.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Massively-parallel electron dynamics calculations in real-time and real-space: Toward applications to nanostructures of more than ten-nanometers in size

A highly efficient program of massively parallel calculations for electron dynamics has been developed in an effort to apply the method to optical response of nanostructures of more than ten-nanometers in size. The approach is based on time-dependent density functional theory calculations in real-time and real-space. The computational code is implemented by using simple algorithms with a finite-difference method in space derivative and Taylor expansion in time-propagation. Since the computational program is free from the algorithms of eigenvalue problems and fast-Fourier-transformation, which are usually implemented in conventional quantum chemistry or band structure calculations, it is highly suitable for massively parallel calculations. Benchmark calculations using the K computer at RIKEN demonstrate that the parallel efficiency of the program is very high on more than 60 000 CPU cores. The method is applied to optical response of arrays of C{sub 60} orderly nanostructures of more than 10 nm in size. The computed absorption spectrum is in good agreement with the experimental observation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

In situ study on medium-range order evolution during the polyamorphous phase transition in a Pd-Ni-P nanostructured glass

Engineering multiscale structural hierarchies in glassy alloys enable a broad spectrum of potential applications. Metallic glasses were born in hierarchical structures from atomic-to-nanometer scales. However, the frozen-in structures in traditional metallic glasses prepared by rapid quenching techniques are challenging to tailor. Here, we show that a Pd 40 Ni 40 P 20 bulk nanostructured glass of polyamorphous interfacial structures was prepared by inert-gas condensation with a laser evaporation source, and its multiscale structures could be engineered. In-situ scattering experiment results reveal polyamorphous phase transitions occurred in the interfacial regions, which are accompanied by the evolution of medium-range order and the nanoscale heterogeneous structures during the condensation process of glassy nanoparticles under high pressure and the following heating process. Moreover, changes in the cluster connectivity resulting from repacking of the local ordering induced by pressure and temperature could be observed. The thermophysical and mechanical properties, including boson peaks, hardness, and elasticity modulus, could be changed as a function of heat-treatment parameters. In conclusion, our findings would shed light on the synthesis of bulk nanostructured glassy alloys with tailorable thermodynamic and dynamical behavior as well as mechanical properties based on the understanding of metastability for polyamorphous interfacial phases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗