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At least 865 records · Page 48
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Genetic susceptibility to toxicologic lung responses among inbred mouse strains following exposure to carbon nanotubes and profiling of underlying gene networks

The risk of human exposure to fiber nanoparticles has risen in recent years due to increases in the manufacture and utilization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). CNTs are present as airborne particulates in occupational settings and their hazard potential has been demonstrated in experimental lung exposure studies using inbred mouse strains. However, it is not known whether different inbred strains differ in lung responses to CNTs by virtue of their genetics. In this work, common inbred strains (BALB/c, C57Bl/6, DBA/2, and C3H/He) were exposed to CNTs via oropharyngeal aspiration and lung histology and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were evaluated over 28 days with the objective of evaluating sensitivity/resistance among strains. C57Bl/6 mice developed significantly more extensive type II pneumocyte (T2P) hyperplasia and alveolar infiltrate compared to DBA/2 mice, which were resistant. Surprisingly, DBA/2 but not C57Bl/6 mice were extremely sensitive to increases in leukocytes recovered in BAL fluid. Underlying global gene expression patterns in the two strains were compared using mRNA sequencing to investigate regulatory networks associated with the different effects. The impact of exposure on gene networks regulating various aspects of immune response and cell survival was limited in DBA/2 mice compared to C57Bl/6. Investigation of B6D2F1 (C57Bl/6 × DBA/2 hybrid) mice demonstrated inheritance of sensitivity to CNT exposures in regard to toxicologic lung pathology and BAL leukocyte accumulations. These findings demonstrate a genetic basis of susceptibility to CNT particle exposures and both inform the use of inbred mouse models and suggest the likelihood of differences in genetic susceptibility among humans. - Highlights: • Strain-specific effects followed instilled lung exposure to thin, tangled MWCNTS in mice. • Exposed C57Bl/6 exhibits more pronounced lung pathology and proinflammatory signaling. • Exposed DBA/2 responds with highly sensitive increases in leukocytes in lavage samples • Genetic background is shown to play a role in nature and severity of adverse effects.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Infant gut strain persistence is associated with maternal origin, phylogeny, and traits including surface adhesion and iron acquisition

Gut microbiome succession affects infant development. However, it remains unclear what factors promote persistence of initial bacterial colonizers in the developing gut. Here, we perform strain-resolved analyses to compare gut colonization of preterm and full-term infants throughout the first year of life and evaluate associations between strain persistence and strain origin as well as genetic potential. Analysis of fecal metagenomes collected from 13 full-term and 9 preterm infants reveals that infants' initially distinct microbiomes converge by age 1 year. Approximately 11% of early colonizers, primarily Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium, persist during the first year of life, and those are more prevalent in full-term, compared with preterm infants. Examination of 17 mother-infant pairs reveals maternal gut strains are significantly more likely to persist in the infant gut than other strains. Enrichment in genes for surface adhesion, iron acquisition, and carbohydrate degradation may explain persistence of some strains through the first year of life.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Strain-Dependent Surface Defect Equilibria of Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conducting Perovskites

We report understanding the surface defect chemistry and its strain dependency is essential in developing next-generation electrochemical devices. However, due to their nanoscale dimensions, surface defects cannot be accessed by conventional techniques used in bulk defect studies. Here, we constructed the strain-dependent surface defect equilibria (i.e., the Brouwer diagram) of mixed ionic-electronic conducting perovskite oxides with near ambient pressure X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Using coherently strained thin-film La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Fe O3 (LSF) as model systems, we probed their surface defect equilibria at 400 °C in oxygen partial pressures between 1 to 10 -5 Torr. We found that the electron holes on the LSF surfaces have strong oxygen character, regardless of the strain states. Nevertheless, tensile strain makes the LSF surface more reducible than the compressed counterpart. These two observations were then validated using first-principles calculations. Finally, with the aid of thermodynamic analyses, we showed that the strain-dependent surface defect equilibria of LSF can be captured by bulk-like ideal solution defect models with shifted oxygen chemical potentials. The findings and methodology presented in this study enable quantitative determination of the surface defect chemistry, which is crucial to understanding and designing functional surfaces for efficient conversions of energy and fuels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Moiré-Assisted Strain Transfer in Vertical van der Waals Heterostructures

Strain provides a powerful method to study 2D monolayers and to tune their properties. The same approach also has great potential for van-der-Waals (vdW) heterostructures. However, we need to understand how strain can be applied to vertically stacked vdW structures, for which strain transfer from one layer to the next remains little explored. In our experiment, we fabricated vertical heterostructures consisting of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) monolayers that were deposited on a flexible substrate. These TMDC heterostructures allowed us to read out separately the strain in each monolayer by photoluminescence measurements. We find that, in TMDC heterostructures with large twist angles (>5°), strain transfer is limited. However, for aligned heterostructures with small twist angles (≤5°), near unity strain transfer efficiency is observed. Here, we correlate this finding with the moiré domains formed in the aligned heterostructures by reconstruction.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2016

Engineering the Transformation Strain in LiMn y Fe 1– y PO 4 Olivines for Ultrahigh Rate Battery Cathodes

Alkali ion intercalation compounds used as battery electrodes often exhibit first-order phase transitions during electro-chemical cycling, accompanied by significant transformation strains. Despite 30 years of research into the behavior of such compounds, the relationship between transformation strain and electrode performance, especially the rate at which working ions (e.g., Li) can be intercalated and deintercalated, is still absent. In this work, we use the LiMn y Fe 1-y PO 4 system for a systematic study, and measure using operando synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD) the dynamic strain behavior as a function of the Mn content (y) in powders of similar to 50 nm average diameter. The dynamically produced strain deviates significantly from what is expected from the equilibrium phase diagrams and demonstrates metastability but nonetheless spans a wide range from 0 to 8 vol % with y. For the first time, we show that the discharge capacity at high C-rates (20-50C rate) varies in inverse proportion to the transformation strain, implying that engineering electrode materials for reduced strain can be used to maximize the power capability of batteries.

cathode↗
DOE OSTI2025

Strain Effects in SrHfO 3 Films Grown by Hybrid Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Perovskite oxide heterostructures host a large number of interesting phenomena such as ferroelectricity, which are often driven by octahedral distortions in the crystal that may induce polarization. SrHfO 3 (SHO) is a perovskite oxide with a pseudocubic lattice parameter of 4.08 Å that previous density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest can be stabilized in a ferroelectric P4mm phase when stabilized with sufficient compressive strain. Additionally, it is insulating and possesses a large band gap and a high dielectric constant, making it an ideal candidate for oxide electronic devices. Here, to test the viability of epitaxial strain as a driver of ferroic phase transitions, SHO films were grown by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy (hMBE) with a tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)hafnium(IV) source on GdScO 3 and TbScO 3 substrates. Strained SHO phases were characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy to determine the space group of the strained films, with the results compared to those of DFT-optimized models of phase stability versus strain. Contrary to past reports, we find that compressively strained SrHfO 3 undergoes octahedral tilt distortions without associated ferroelectric polarization and most likely takes on the I4/mcm phase with the a 0 a 0 c – tilt pattern.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Strain Effect on Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity of Epitaxial NdNiO3 Thin Films

Epitaxial strain can cause both lattice distortion and oxygen non-stoichiometry, effects that are strongly coupled at the heterojunctions of complex nickelate oxides. In this paper, we decouple these structural and chemical effects on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) using a set of well-defined, coherently-strained epitaxial NdNiO3 (NNO) films. We show that within the regime where oxygen vacancies (VOs) are negligible, compressive strain is favorable for the OER while tensile strain is unfavorable, as the former induces orbital splitting, resulting in a higher occupancy in the orbital and weaker Ni-O chemisorption. However, when the tensile strain is large enough to promote the formation of VOs, an increase in the OER is also observed. The partial reduction of Ni3+ to Ni2+ due to VOs increases the average occupancy of the eg antibonding orbital to more than one, which is believed to account for this increased OER activity. Our work highlights that epitaxial-strain-induced lattice distortion and VO generation can be simultaneously exploited to tune OER activities, of importance for the predictive synthesis of high-performance electrocatalysts.

strain, oxygen vacancy, orbital polarization, meta↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lattice Strain Measurement of Core@Shell Electrocatalysts with 4D Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Nanobeam Electron Diffraction

Strain engineering enables the direct modification of atomic bonding and is currently an active area of research aimed at improving electrocatalytic activity. However, directly measuring the lattice strain of individual catalyst nanoparticles is challenging, especially at the scale of a single unit cell. In this study, we quantitatively map the strain present in rhodium@platinum (core@shell) nanocube electrocatalysts using conventional aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and the recently developed technique of 4D-STEM nanobeam electron diffraction. We demonstrate that 4D-STEM combined with data preconditioning allows for quantitative lattice strain mapping with subpicometer precision and without the influence of scan distortions. When combined with multivariate curve resolution, 4D-STEM allows us to distinguish the nanocube core from the shell and to quantify the unit cell size as a function of distance from the core–shell interface. Our results demonstrate that 4D-STEM has significant precision and accuracy advantages in strain metrology of catalyst materials compared to aberration-corrected STEM imaging and is beneficial for extracting information about the evolution of strain in catalyst nanoparticles.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Imaging Strain-Localized Single-Photon Emitters in Layered GaSe below the Diffraction Limit

Nanoscale strain control of exciton funneling is an increasingly critical tool for the scalable production of single photon emitters (SPEs) in two-dimensional materials. However, conventional far-field optical microscopies remain constrained in spatial resolution by the diffraction limit and thus can provide only a limited description of nanoscale strain localization of SPEs. Here, we quantify the effects of nanoscale heterogeneous strain on the energy and brightness of GaSe SPEs on nanopillars with correlative cathodoluminescence, photoluminescence, and atomic force microscopy, supported by density functional theory simulations. We report the strain-localized SPEs have a broad range of emission wavelengths from 620 to 900 nm. We reveal substantial strain-controlled SPE wavelength tunability over a ~100 nm spectral range and 2 orders of magnitude enhancement in the SPE brightness at the pillar center due to Type-I exciton funneling. In addition, we show that radiative biexciton cascade processes contribute to observed CL photon superbunching. Also, the GaSe SPEs show excellent stability, where their properties remain unchanged after electron beam exposure. Importantly, we anticipate that this comprehensive study on the nanoscale strain control of two-dimensional SPEs will provide key insights to guide the development of truly deterministic quantum photonics.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2016

Growth of highly strained CeO 2 ultrathin films

Large biaxial strain is a promising route to tune the functionalities of oxide thin films. However, large strain is often not fully realized due to the formation of misfit dislocations at the film/substrate interface. In this work, we examine the growth of strained ceria (CeO 2 ) thin films on (001)-oriented single crystal yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) via pulsed-laser deposition. By varying the film thickness systematically between 1 and 430 nm, we demonstrate that ultrathin ceria films are coherently strained to the YSZ substrate for thicknesses up to 2.7 nm, despite the large lattice mismatch (~5%). The coherency is confirmed by both X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. This thickness is several times greater than the predicted equilibrium critical thickness. Partial strain relaxation is achieved by forming semirelaxed surface islands rather than by directly nucleating dislocations. In situ reflective high-energy electron diffraction during growth confirms the transition from 2-D (layer-by-layer) to 3-D (island) at a film thickness of ~1 nm, which is further supported by atomic force microscopy. We propose that dislocations likely nucleate near the surface islands and glide to the film/substrate interface, as evidenced by the presence of 60° dislocations. Finally, an improved understanding of growing oxide thin films with a large misfit lays the foundation to systematically explore the impact of strain and dislocations on properties such as ionic transport and redox chemistry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Mechanistic Insights into Defect-Mediated Crystallization Revealed by Lattice Strain Evolution

Structural defects and lattice strain are intrinsic to many crystalline materials, yet their roles in controlling chemical reaction mechanisms and directing crystallization pathways remain poorly understood. Here, in this study, we revealed the three-dimensional evolution of strain and dislocation defects at the nanoscale during the growth of heterogeneously nucleated barite (BaSO 4 ) and calcite (CaCO 3 ) crystals by using coherent X-ray scattering, electron microscopy, and molecular simulations. Unlike barite, which formed with minimal internal strain, calcite developed dislocation defects and exhibited spatially varying strain that increased during growth. During growth in Sr-rich solutions, calcite likely incorporates Sr 2+ into the defects, which further modulates the local lattice structure and increases both the compressive and tensile strain. These findings suggest that calcite crystallization was likely dominated by attachment of precursor phases, which gave rise to defect-enriched domain structures not predicted by classical growth models. By linking defect formation to ion incorporation and growth dynamics, this work provides fundamental insight into how lattice-level strain heterogeneity governs the chemical reactivity of ionic crystals.

Bragg coherent diffractive imaging↗
DOE OSTI2023

Engineering metal oxidation using epitaxial strain

The oxides of platinum group metals are promising for future electronics and spintronics due to the delicate interplay of spin-orbit coupling and electron correlation energies. However, their synthesis as thin films remains challenging due to their low vapour pressures and low oxidation potentials. Here we show how epitaxial strain can be used as a control knob to enhance metal oxidation. Using Ir as an example, we demonstrate the use of epitaxial strain in engineering its oxidation chemistry, enabling phase-pure Ir or IrO 2 films despite using identical growth conditions. The observations are explained using a density-functional-theory-based modified formation enthalpy framework, which highlights the important role of metal-substrate epitaxial strain in governing the oxide formation enthalpy. We also validate the generality of this principle by demonstrating epitaxial strain effect on Ru oxidation. The IrO 2 films studied in our work further revealed quantum oscillations, attesting to the excellent film quality. The epitaxial strain approach we present could enable growth of oxide films of hard-to-oxidize elements using strain engineering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Monitoring strain evolution in water-sand systems using distributed acoustic sensing for geohazard early warning

Rainfall-driven hazards such as landslides, debris flows, and earthen dam failures often arise when water changes the internal strain within sand. This study evaluates the ability of distributed acoustic sensing to monitor these strain changes in real time. We embed a fiber-optic cable in a sand-filled glass cylinder and run controlled dry- and wet-sand experiments to measure how strain develops as water infiltrates, saturates, and drains from the sand. The sensing system detects uneven water movement in dry sand and enables millimeter-scale estimates of infiltration rates, and in wet sand it tracks rising water levels, delayed strain peaks after saturation, and abrupt strain shifts during drainage. These results show that fiber-optic sensing captures subtle strain evolution throughout the full water-sand interaction cycle. The study demonstrates that fiber-optic sensing offers promising potential for real-time and cost-effective monitoring and early warning of rainfall-induced geohazards.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Doping-modulated strain control of bifunctional electrocatalysis for rechargeable zinc–air batteries

Changes in the local atomic arrangement in a crystal caused by lattice-mismatch-induced strain can efficiently regulate the performance of electrocatalysts for zinc–air batteries (ZABs) in many manners, mainly due to modulated electronic structure configurations that affect the adsorption energies for oxygen-intermediates formed during oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER). However, the application of strain engineering in electrocatalysis has been limited by the strain relaxation caused by structural instability such as dissolution and destruction, leading to insufficient durability towards the ORR/OER. In this work, we propose a doping strategy to modulate the phase transition and formation of self-supported cobalt fluoride–sulfide (CoFS) nanoporous films using a low amount of copper (Cu) as a dopant. This well-defined Cu–CoFS heterostructure overcomes the obstacle of structural instability. Our study of the proposed Cu–CoFS also helps establish the structure–property relationship of strained electrocatalysts by unraveling the role of local strain in regulating the electronic structure of the catalyst. As a proof-of-concept, the Cu–CoFS electrocatalyst with doping-modulated strain exhibited superior onset potentials of 0.91 V and 1.49 V for the ORR and OER, respectively, surpassing commercial Pt/C@RuO 2 and benchmarking non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) catalysts. ZABs with the Cu–CoFS catalyst delivered excellent charge/discharge cycling performance with an extremely low voltage gap of 0.5 V at a current density of 10 mA cm –2 and successively 0.93 V at a high current density of 100 mA cm –2 and afforded an outstanding peak power density of 255 mW cm –2 .

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Strain relaxation of metastable SiGe/Si: Investigation with two complementary X-ray techniques

Metastable and strain relaxed SiGe layers with about 20% Ge content have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si substrates at 550 deg. C. The thickness regime of metastability and the onset of strain relaxation were investigated on dust particle free surfaces obtained by careful chemical cleaning and epitaxy loading under clean room conditions. Compared to earlier results true metastable regime without misfit dislocations was obtained up to 140 nm thickness. The onset of strain relaxation started with heterogeneous nucleation sites of misfit dislocations. X-ray topography proved to be a unique monitoring tool to observe a low density of single dislocations. From these results we suggested to define a critical thickness band with lower bound t{sub cl} from dislocation nucleation to an upper bound t{sub co} (600 nm in our case) defined by the onset of considerable strain relaxation. The strain relief was measured by X-ray diffraction (reciprocal space mapping) and found to be very abrupt (76% strain relaxation at 800 nm thickness).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Axial strain in GaAs/InAs core-shell nanowires

We study the axial strain relaxation in GaAs/InAs core-shell nanowire heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Besides a gradual strain relaxation of the shell material, we find a significant strain in the GaAs core, increasing with shell thickness. This strain is explained by a saturation of the dislocation density at the core-shell interface. Independent measurements of core and shell lattice parameters by x-ray diffraction reveal a relaxation of 93% in a 35 nm thick InAs shell surrounding cores of 80 nm diameter. The compressive strain of -0.5% compared to bulk InAs is accompanied by a tensile strain up to 0.9% in the GaAs core.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Shear avalanches in metallic glasses under nanoindentation: Deformation units and rate dependent strain burst cut-off

Indented metallic glasses at the nanoscale deform via strain bursts. Conventional continuum descriptions are not appropriate for such highly stochastic, intermittent deformations. In this study, after a statistical analysis of strain bursts in five metallic glasses, the dependence of the cut-off of the strain burst size on deformation units and loading rate is established. For soft metallic glasses with smaller deformation units, cut-off of the strain burst size truncates the scale-free behavior at larger strain burst sizes. For hard metallic glasses, scale-free behavior occurs in a wide range of strain burst sizes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Reliable strain measurement in transistor arrays by robust scanning transmission electron microscopy

Accurate measurement of the strain field in the channels of transistor arrays is critical for strain engineering in modern electronic devices. We applied atomic-resolution high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy to quantitative measurement of the strain field in transistor arrays. The quantitative strain profile over 20 transistors was obtained with high reliability and a precision of 0.1%. The strain field was found to form homogeneously in the channels of the transistor arrays. Furthermore, strain relaxation due to the thin foil effect was quantitatively investigated for thicknesses of 35 to 275 nm.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗