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At least 829 records · Page 46

Contrasting thermally-induced structural and microstructural evolution of alumino-silicates with tubular and planar arrangements: Case study of halloysite and kaolinite

Materials with the similar chemical structures but different morphological organization exhibit considerable differences in thermally induced chemo-morphological evolution. With recent advancements in multi-scale X-ray scattering measurements, it is now possible to non-invasively probe the structural and microstructural evolution of such materials. In this study, we investigate the chemo-morphological evolution of halloysite and contrast the results with those for kaolinite. Halloysite and kaolinite have tubular and planar morphologies, respectively. Both materials are alumino-silicates comprising silica tetrahedra (T) and alumina octahedra (O) organized in a TO structure. Four distinct stages in the structural evolution were identified. Stages I, II, III, and IV correspond to temperature ranges of 25 to 125 °C, 125 to 400 °C, 400 to 625 °C, and 625 to 875 °C. Major structural changes correspond to the removal of interlayer/adsorbed water in stage I, the existence of the halloysite structure without interlayer water in stage II, dehydroxylation of halloysite in stage III, and the conversion of ordered halloysite to amorphous meta-halloysite in stage IV. Additionally, heating halloysite up to 875 °C resulted in slight widening of the nanotubes, as the average pore radius increased from 6.4 nm to 6.6 nm. Heating also resulted in an increase of wall thickness of the nanotubes from ~120 nm (25 °C) to 161 nm (875 °C). The increase in the halloysite nanotube diameter was attributed to the expansion of the structure and an increase in the surface roughness. The pore sizes in halloysite nanotubes were also confirmed using N 2 adsorption-desorption and nano-X-ray computed tomography (nano-XCT) measurements. The interlayer basal spacing in halloysite changed from 9.8 Å to 7.2 Å after the removal of interlayer water. At temperatures in the range of 625 to 875 °C, heating halloysite causes a small widening of nanotube pores and a minor increase in the surface area. In contrast, the interlayer spacing in kaolinite collapses on heating which reduces the nanoscale porosity. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate the differences in the chemo-morphological evolution of alumino-silicates with tubular and planar morphologies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Bayesian discovery of optimal reduced order models from mechanistic and experimental data: A case study of Pd penetration in TRISO fuels using BISON

TRistructural ISOtropic (TRISO) particles rely on a silicon carbide (SiC) layer as the primary structural material and barrier to metallic fission products (FPs) release. Accurate prediction of palladium (Pd) transport and penetration is therefore critical for qualifying TRISO fuels for advanced reactors. The empirical correlation for Pd penetration in BISON is derived from historical particle-fuel data, but cannot explain the large scatter in the experimental data that arises from varying experimental conditions. To aid fuel qualification, we previously developed a mechanistic reduced order model (ROM) using BISON that resolves these dependencies. Here, in this work we build on that mechanistic ROM and perform validation and quantify its uncertainty using Bayesian uncertainty quantification (UQ). calibration against a suite of in-pile and out-of-pile experiments spanning particle compositions, geometries, and operating conditions, and we benchmark it against the empirical correlation. Bayesian UQ identifies influential parameters, calibrates them to data, and yields predictive intervals. Results show that while the empirical correlation can be tuned to fit a single experiment type, it transfers poorly; the mechanistic ROM sustains accuracy with credible uncertainty across disparate conditions. This demonstrates a practical path—via Bayesian UQ applied to mechanistic ROMs—to leverage single-effect experiments for inferring in-reactor behavior and supporting TRISO fuel qualification.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Evaluating the potential of plastic waste upcycling using thermochemical technologies: A case study in Spain

A plastic waste upcycling value chain model has been applied to assess the potential of processing packaging waste in Spain using thermo-chemical technologies to produce low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP), which are highly valuable materials. The model projects an annual profit of 120.6 M$\$$/yr, with a capital investment of 789.3 M$\$$, generating 3285 jobs and contributing 65.5 M$\$$/yr to Spain’s economy. The achieved circularity rate of the waste processing infrastructure exceeds 40 %, incorporating recycled HDPE and PET. Despite these advantages, regulatory gaps and market hesitancy toward recycled materials due to quality concerns hinder adoption. Additionally, economies of scale remain underutilized in Spain due to lower plastic waste collection levels compared to countries such as the United States. This network, while less profitable, is environmentally superior, yielding upcycled products with a Global Warming Potential 20–35 % lower than their virgin, fossil-fuel counterparts, confirming this as a viable and sustainable alternative.

Chemical upcycling↗

When physics-informed data analytics outperforms black-box machine learning: A case study in thickness control for additive manufacturing

Aerosol jet printing (AJP) has emerged as a promising noncontact additive manufacturing method for high-resolution printing for a wide range of material systems. A key challenge limiting the broader adoption of AJP in the material science community is the lack of methods to precisely control thickness. Herein, we develop a model-based design of experiment (MBDoE) framework that integrates physics-informed models, nonlinear regression, and information criteria to postulate, select and calibrate the best model to describe and optimize the AJP manufacturing process. Starting with already available data from system commissioning (e.g., prior single variable sensitivity analysis), four candidate physics-informed models are postulated and trained. MBDoE identifies a single additional optimal experiment to validate these predictive models with quantified uncertainties, which are then used to determine the best experimental conditions to control printed film thickness. As a comparative benchmark, the analysis is repeated using the same dataset with nonparametric Gaussian process regression (GPR) model that does not incorporate physical information. Using MBDoE principles, we find that only five experiments are necessary to calibrate the nonlinear physics-informed parametric model, and with said limited data, this model outperforms the black-box machine learning GPR model. This key result underscores an emerging trend in the data science community: incorporating physical information into predictive models often drastically reduces the data requirements. Leveraging MBDoE further increased the data efficiency. By design, the proposed data science framework is general in nature and can be easily extended to other experimental and additive manufacturing systems beyond AJP.

Aerosol jet printing↗

Integrated modeling framework (FVCOM-ICM/Toxi) to simulate the fate and transport of polychlorinated biphenyls in urban estuaries–Case study for Puget Sound, WA

Puget Sound is an urban estuary that exhibits persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination despite years of remediation efforts. For robust management actions, determining the timing, location, and magnitude of PCB loading sources and transport pathways using field data alone is challenging due to complex water circulation and biogeochemical processes. Here, this study aims to develop an integrated modeling framework that couples complex estuarian circulation with biogeochemical processes and associated interactions with PCB kinetics. The model simulates PCB accumulation in the lower tropic food web, demonstrating PCB intrusion into primary producers and its biomagnification in pelagic consumers. The PCB data from a new field survey was used to calibrate/validate the new PCB modeling framework for Puget Sound. The software program of the modeling framework is available to the user community for the applications of toxic contaminants transport in marine waters.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗