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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 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Influence of oxide impurities on the chemical tuning of the thermoelectric properties of substitution derivatives of RuIn{sub 3}

A systematic investigation on tuning the charge carrier concentration by substitution of the Ru position in RuIn{sub 3} is performed. Samples with nominal composition Ru{sub 0.95}T{sub 0.05}In{sub 3} (T=Re, Rh, Ir) were synthesized via liquid–solid-reaction and subsequent spark plasma sintering treatment. The chemical composition was characterized by X-ray, metallographic and microstructure analysis revealing solid solutions in the samples with Rh and Ir, whereas Re cannot be incorporated in RuIn{sub 3}. Minor oxide impurities in the commercially available starting elements, the homogeneity range of RuIn{sub 3} and the redox potentials of the participating elements are the key for interpreting the observed lattice parameters and the corresponding composition. Both, substitutions with Rh or Ir and Re inclusions in RuIn{sub 3} lead independently to a significant decrease of the total thermal conductivity down to approximately one half of the value observed for binary RuIn{sub 3}, prepared with commercially available starting materials. The electrical resistivity was reduced by substitution and the temperature dependence changes from semiconductor-like, for RuIn{sub 3}, to metal-like in the substitution derivatives. At the same time the sign change in the thermopower at high temperatures, characteristic for binary RuIn{sub 3}, is suppressed, attaining only electrons as majority carriers. - Graphical abstract: Microstructure (perpendicular to the pressure axis; polarized light) of polycrystalline Ru{sub 0.95}Rh{sub 0.05}In{sub 3} (a), Ru{sub 0.95}Ir{sub 0.05}In{sub 3} (b) and Ru{sub 0.95}Re{sub 0.05}In{sub 3} (c) samples after SPS treatment. - Highlights: • Substitution solid solutions of RuIn{sub 3} were prepared via liquid–solid-reaction. • Chemistry of oxide impurities is crucial for explanation of experimental results. • Thermodynamic calculations support the observation of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} or ZnO as impurities. • Electrical resistivity is reduced by substitution. • Temperature dependence of resistivity changes from semiconductor- to metal-like.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

FP-LAPW calculations of the elastic, electronic and thermoelectric properties of the filled skutterudite CeRu{sub 4}Sb{sub 12}

We have investigated the electronic structure, elastic and thermoelectric properties of the filled skutterudite CeRu{sub 4}Sb{sub 12} using the density functional theory (DFT). The full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within a framework of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) approach is used to perform the calculations presented here. The electronic structure calculation suggests an indirect band gap semiconducting nature of the material with energy band gap of 0.08 eV. The analysis of the elastic constants at relaxed positions reveals the ductile nature of the sample material with covalent contribution in the inter-atomic bonding. The narrow band gap semiconducting nature with high value of Seebeck coefficient suggests the possibility of the thermoelectric application of the material. The analysis of the thermal transport properties confirms the result obtained from the energy band structure of the material with high thermopower and dimensionless figure of merit 0.19 at room temperature.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Characterization of twin boundaries in an Fe–17.5Mn–0.56C twinning induced plasticity steel

A twinning-induced plasticity steel of composition Fe–17.5 wt.% Mn–0.56 wt.% C–1.39 wt.% Al–0.24 wt.% Si was analyzed for the purpose of characterizing the relationship between tensile strain and deformation twinning. Tensile samples achieved a maximum of 0.46 true strain at failure, and a maximum ultimate tensile strength of 1599 MPa. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis showed that the grain orientation rotated heavily to < 111 > parallel to the tensile axis above 0.3 true strain. Sigma 3 misorientations, as identified by EBSD orientation measurements, and using the image quality maps were used to quantify the number of twins present in the scanned areas of the samples. The image quality method yielded a distinct positive correlation between the twin area density and deformation, but the orientation measurements were unreliable in quantifying twin density in these structures. Quantitative analysis of the twin fraction is limited from orientation information because of the poor spatial resolution of EBSD in relation to the twin thickness. The EBSD orientation maps created for a thin foil sample showed some improvement in the resolution of the twins, but not enough to be significant. Measurements of the twins in the transmission electron microscopy micrographs yielded an average thickness of 23 nm, which is near the resolution capabilities of EBSD on this material for the instrumentation used. Electron channeling contrast imaging performed on one bulk tensile specimen of 0.34 true strain, using a method of controlled diffraction, yielded several images of twinning, dislocation structures and strain fields. A twin thickness of 66 nm was measured by the same method used for the transmission electron microscopy measurement. It is apparent that the results obtain by electron channeling contrast imaging were better than those by EBSD but did not capture all information on the twin boundaries such as was observed by transmission electron microscopy. - Highlights: • Performed tensile tests to assess mechanical performance of TWIP alloy • Analyzed tensile specimens using EBSD, TEM, and ECCI • EBSD showed that most twinning occurred at or near the < 111 >//TA orientation. • EBSD, TEM and ECCI were used to measure average twin density. • Compared spatial resolution of EBSD, ECCI and TEM for the instrumentation used.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Facile fabrication of 2D material multilayers and vdW heterostructures with multimodal microscopy and AFM characterization

Reliable transfer processes that enable manipulation of two-dimensional (2D) materials, e.g., transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and MXenes, from one substrate to another has been a necessity for successful device fabrication. Here, with both mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) widely used, a versatile, clean, deterministic, and yet simple transfer technique is highly needed. To address such need, we developed a transfer method that takes advantage of wettability contrast between interfaces without the use of sacrificial layers or chemical processes. More importantly, a setup was developed to carry out this transfer method with high sample selectivity and fine control of the position and orientation of transferred TMDC crystals, a feature required for fabrication of the devices based on vertical 2D heterostructures. Using both exfoliated and CVD grown materials and subsequent atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL), confocal Raman and tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) characterization, we ascertained the quality of interfaces resulting from the transfer process while preserving excellent 2D material integrity. PL and TERS maps revealed nanometer-scale heterogeneities in the interfaces of fabricated heterostructures, which should enable further perfection of the transfer technique. TERS/TEPL information were employed to identify areas suitable for nanodevice fabrication, making the reported transfer and characterization methods ideal for making high quality assembly of 2D heterostructure more accessible, which should facilitate exploration of vertical 2D heterostructures for applications in electronics, batteries, solar cells, and twistronics.

2D material transfer↗
DOE OSTI2012

HPV-18 E2circumflexE4 chimera: 2 new spliced transcripts and proteins induced by keratinocyte differentiation

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) E4 is known to be synthesized as an E1circumflexE4 fusion resulting from splice donor and acceptor sites conserved across HPV types. Here we demonstrate the existence of 2 HPV-18 E2circumflexE4 transcripts resulting from 2 splice donor sites in the 5 Prime part of E2, while the splice acceptor site is the one used for E1circumflexE4. Both E2circumflexE4 transcripts are up-regulated by keratinocyte differentiation in vitro and can be detected in clinical samples containing low-grade HPV-18-positive cells from Pap smears. They give rise to two fusion proteins in vitro, E2circumflexE4-S and E2circumflexE4-L. Whereas we could not differentiate E2circumflexE4-S from E1circumflexE4 in vivo, E2circumflexE4-L could be formally identified as a 23 kDa protein in raft cultures in which the corresponding transcript was also found, and in a biopsy from a patient with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia stage I-II (CINI-II) associated with HPV-18, demonstrating the physiological relevance of E2circumflexE4 products.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of vessel traffic and ocean noise on gray whale stress hormones

Human use of marinescapes is rapidly increasing, especially in populated nearshore regions where recreational vessel traffic can be dense. Marine animals can have a physiological response to such elevated human activity that can impact individual health and population dynamics. To understand the physiological impacts of vessel traffic on baleen whales, we investigated the adrenal stress response of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) to variable vessel traffic levels through an assessment of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGC) concentrations. This analysis was conducted at the individual level, at multiple temporal scales (1–7 days), and accounted for factors that may confound fGC: sex, age, nutritional status, and reproductive state. Data were collected in Oregon, USA, from June to October of 2016–2018. Results indicate significant correlations between fGC, month, and vessel counts from the day prior to fecal sample collection. Furthermore, we show a significant positive correlation between vessel traffic and underwater ambient noise levels, which indicates that noise produced by vessel traffic may be a causal factor for the increased fGC. This study increases knowledge of gray whale physiological response to vessel traffic and may inform management decisions regarding regulations of vessel traffic activities and thresholds near critical whale habitats.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Planck intermediate results: XXXVII. Evidence of unbound gas from the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

By looking at the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (kSZ) in Planck nominal mission data, we present in this paper a significant detection of baryons participating in large-scale bulk flows around central galaxies (CGs) at redshift z ≈ 0.1. We estimate the pairwise momentum of the kSZ temperature fluctuations at the positions of the Central Galaxy Catalogue (CGC) samples extracted from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7) data. For the foreground-cleaned SEVEM, SMICA, NILC, and COMMANDER maps, we find 1.8–2.5σ detections of the kSZ signal, which are consistent with the kSZ evidence found in individualPlanck raw frequency maps, although lower than found in the WMAP-9yr W-band (3.3σ). We further reconstruct the peculiar velocity field from the CG density field, and compute for the first time the cross-correlation function between kSZ temperature fluctuations and estimates of CG radial peculiar velocities. This correlation function yields a 3.0–3.7σ detection of the peculiar motion of extended gas on Mpc scales in flows correlated up to distances of 80–100 h -1 Mpc. Both the pairwise momentum estimates and the kSZ temperature-velocity field correlation find evidence for kSZ signatures out to apertures of 8 arcmin and beyond, corresponding to a physical radius of >1 Mpc, more than twice the mean virial radius of halos. This is consistent with the predictions from hydrodynamical simulations that most of the baryons are outside the virialized halos. We fit a simple model, in which the temperature-velocity cross-correlation is proportional to the signal seen in a semi-analytic model built upon N-body simulations, and interpret the proportionality constant as an effective optical depth to Thomson scattering. Finally, we find τ T = (1.4 ± 0.5) × 10 -4 ; the simplest interpretation of this measurement is that much of the gas is in a diffuse phase, which contributes little signal to X-ray or thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Thermoelectric properties of epitaxial TbAs:InGaAs nanocomposites

InGaAs lattice-matched to InP was grown by molecular beam epitaxy with randomly distributed TbAs nanoparticles for thermoelectric power generation applications. TbAs:InGaAs is expected to have a large thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, particularly at high temperatures, owing to energy band alignment between the nanoparticles and their surrounding matrix. Here, the room temperature thermoelectric properties were measured as a function of TbAs concentration, revealing a maximum thermoelectric power factor of 2.38 W/mK{sup 2} and ZT of 0.19 with 0.2% TbAs. Trends in the thermoelectric properties closely resemble those found in comparable ErAs:InGaAs nanocomposite materials. However, nanoparticles were not observed by scanning transmission electron microscopy in the highest ZT TbAs:InGaAs sample, unlike the highest ZT ErAs:InGaAs sample (0.2% ErAs) and two higher concentration TbAs:InGaAs samples examined. Consistent with expectations concerning the positioning of the Fermi level in these materials, ZT was enhanced by TbAs incorporation largely due to a high Seebeck coefficient, whereas ErAs provided InGaAs with higher conductivity but a lower Seebeck coefficient than that of TbAs:InGaAs. Thermal conductivity was reduced significantly from that of intrinsic thin-film InGaAs only with TbAs concentrations greater than {approx}1.7%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrochemical fabrication and optical properties of porous tin oxide films with structural colors

Photonic crystals with porous features not only provide the capability to control light but also enable structural colors that are environmentally sensitive. Here, we report a novel kind of tin oxide-based photonic crystal featuring periodically arranged air pores fabricated by the periodic anodization of tin foil. The existence of a photonic band gap in the fabricated structure is verified by its vivid color, and its reflective spectra which are responsive to environmental stimuli. Furthermore, the sample colors (i.e., the photonic band gap positions) can be easily adjusted by manipulating the anodization parameters. The theoretical modeling results of these tin oxide photonic crystals agree well with the reported experimental ones.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

The experimental setup of the Interaction in Crystals for Emission of RADiation collaboration at Mainzer Mikrotron: Design, commissioning, and tests

Silicon/germanium flat/bent crystals are thin devices able to efficiently deflect charged particle GeV-energy beams up to a few hundreds of μrad; moreover, high intensity photons can be efficiently produced in the so-called Multi-Volume Reflection (MVR) and Multiple Volume Reflections in One Crystal (MVROC) conditions. In the last years, the research interest in this field has moved to the dynamic studies of light negative leptons in the low energy range: the possibility to deflect negative particles and to produce high intensity γ sources via the coherent interactions with crystals in the sub-GeV energy range has been proved by the ICE-RAD (Interaction in Crystals for Emission of RADiation) Collaboration at the MAinzer MIkrotron (MAMI, Germany). This paper describes the setup used by the ICE-RAD experiment for the crystals characterization (both in terms of deflection and radiation emission properties): a high precision goniometer is used to align the crystals with the incoming beam, while a silicon based profilometer and an inorganic scintillator reconstruct, respectively, the particle position and the photon spectra after the samples. The crystals manufacturing process and their characterization, the silicon profilometer commissioning at the CERN PS T9 beamline, and the commissioning of the whole setup installed at MAMI are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Influence of deposition temperature of thermal ALD deposited Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films on silicon surface passivation

The effect of deposition temperature (T{sub dep}) and subsequent annealing time (t{sub anl}) of atomic layer deposited aluminum oxide (Al{sub 2}O3) films on silicon surface passivation (in terms of surface recombination velocity, SRV) is investigated. The pristine samples (as-deposited) show presence of positive fixed charges, Q{sub F}. The interface defect density (D{sub it}) decreases with increase in T{sub dep} which further decreases with t{sub anl} up to 100s. An effective surface passivation (SRV<8 cm/s) is realized for T{sub dep} ≥ 200 °C. The present investigation suggests that low thermal budget processing provides the same quality of passivation as realized by high thermal budget process (t{sub anl} between 10 to 30 min)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Density of molten oxides measured in an aero-acoustic levitator

Knowing the thermophysical properties of high-temperature melts can aid the design of melt processes and validate atomic structural models, such as those used in studying glass formation. Property measurements on such melts are challenging, however, due to container-related contamination and heterogeneous nucleation. Containerless processing techniques that employ levitation can be used to avoid these obstacles. In that context, we demonstrate here the application of silhouette imaging to measure the density of molten oxides in an aero-acoustic levitation instrument (AAL). The AAL combines gas jet levitation with actively controlled acoustic positioning to enable full optical access to samples ca. 2–4 mm in diameter, which are laser beam heated and melted. The cross sections of molten drops are imaged using a monochromatic light source and narrowband-filtered camera. Melt volume is calculated from the cross sections and used to find density at several temperatures ranging 1530–1920 K, including up to 350 K of supercooling. We report densities for CaAl 2 O 4 , Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 , CaSiO 3 , their Fe 2 O 3 -bearing analogs, and 83TiO 2 -17RE 2 O 3 (RE = La or Nd). These provide important benchmarks of the capabilities, measurement uncertainties, and future outlook for this technique.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE v = 3 <- 0 S(0)-S(3) ELECTRIC QUADRUPOLE TRANSITIONS OF H{sub 2} NEAR 0.8 {mu}m

The very weak S(0)-S(3) electric quadrupole transitions of the second overtone band of molecular hydrogen have been recorded in the laboratory by continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy near 0.8 {mu}m. The ultrahigh sensitivity of the spectrometer ({alpha}{sub min} {approx} 1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -10} cm{sup -1}) allows us to detect the considered transitions at a relatively low sample pressure (50-750 torr). The line positions, intensity, and pressure-shift coefficients are derived from a fit of the line shape using a Galatry profile. Compared with literature values, the relative differences between the experimental and theoretical transition intensities are reduced by one order of magnitude, reaching a value of about 2% mainly dependent of the line-shape function adopted for the profile fitting. The thermal equilibrium relative intensity of the S(1) to S(0) line is determined with an accuracy of 0.4%, which can be used to probe the ortho- to para-H{sub 2} concentration ratio. Our measurements confirm the quality of the high-level ab initio calculations, including the relativistic and quantum electrodynamics corrections.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Off-center observers versus supernovae in inhomogeneous pressure universes

Exact luminosity distance and apparent magnitude formulae are applied to the Union2 557 supernovae sample in order to constrain the possible position of an observer outside of the center of symmetry in spherically symmetric inhomogeneous pressure Stephani universes, which are complementary to inhomogeneous density Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) void models. Two specific models are investigated. The first allows a barotropic equation of state at the center of symmetry without the need to specify a scale factor function (model IIA). The second has no barotropic equation of state at the center, but has an explicit dust-like scale factor evolution (model IIB). It is shown that even at 3σ CL, an off-center observer cannot be further than about 4.4 Gpc away from the center of symmetry, which is comparable to the reported size of a void in LTB models with the most likely value of the distance from the center at about 341 Mpc for model IIA and 68 Mpc for model IIB. The off-center observer cannot be farther away from the center than about 577 Mpc for model IIB at 3σ CL. It is determined that the best-fit parameters which characterize inhomogeneity are Ω{sub inh} = 0.77 (dimensionless: model IIA) and α = 7.31 × 10{sup –9} (s km{sup –1}){sup 2/3} Mpc{sup –4/3} (model IIB).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR COSMOLOGY: RESULTS FROM THE GREAT10 STAR CHALLENGE

We present the results from the first public blind point-spread function (PSF) reconstruction challenge, the GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 2010 (GREAT10) Star Challenge. Reconstruction of a spatially varying PSF, sparsely sampled by stars, at non-star positions is a critical part in the image analysis for weak lensing where inaccuracies in the modeled ellipticity e and size R {sup 2} can impact the ability to measure the shapes of galaxies. This is of importance because weak lensing is a particularly sensitive probe of dark energy and can be used to map the mass distribution of large scale structure. Participants in the challenge were presented with 27,500 stars over 1300 images subdivided into 26 sets, where in each set a category change was made in the type or spatial variation of the PSF. Thirty submissions were made by nine teams. The best methods reconstructed the PSF with an accuracy of {sigma}(e) Almost-Equal-To 2.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} and {sigma}(R {sup 2})/R {sup 2} Almost-Equal-To 7.4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4}. For a fixed pixel scale, narrower PSFs were found to be more difficult to model than larger PSFs, and the PSF reconstruction was severely degraded with the inclusion of an atmospheric turbulence model (although this result is likely to be a strong function of the amplitude of the turbulence power spectrum).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Prey-switching to fishery discards does not compensate for poor natural foraging conditions in breeding albatross

Abstract Fishery discards supplement food for many seabirds, but the impacts of declining discards are poorly understood. Discards may be beneficial for some populations but have negative impacts by increasing bycatch risk or because they are junk-food. The Falkland Islands support > 70% of global black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris populations, which feed on discards. However, the effect of discards on population demographics, and implications of fishery management changes, are unknown. We analysed stomach contents of black-browed albatross chicks across eight breeding seasons (2004–2020) from New Island, Falkland Islands, to assess variation in discard consumption and how this relates to foraging conditions and breeding success. Across years, 68%–98% of samples contained natural prey, whilst 23%–88% of samples contained fishery discards. Discard consumption was positively related to fishery catches of hoki Macruronus magellanicus and sea surface temperature anomalies SSTA (°C), and negatively related to breeding success. These results suggest a diet-switching behaviour for Falkland Islands albatrosses, whereby birds switch from preferred natural prey to suboptimal discards when environmental conditions, and hence natural feeding opportunities, are unfavourable. Crucially, this study highlights that fishery discards do not compensate for poor natural foraging conditions for breeding albatrosses in the long term.

Kuepfer, Amanda (ORCID:0000000235598802)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Star formation efficiency and AGN feedback in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies with fast X-ray nuclear winds

ABSTRACT We present the first systematic study of the molecular gas and star formation efficiency in a sample of ten narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies selected to have X-ray Ultra Fast Outflows and, therefore, to potentially show AGN feedback effects. CO observations were obtained with the IRAM 30-m telescope in six galaxies and from the literature for four galaxies. We derived the stellar mass, star formation rate, AGN, and FIR dust luminosities by fitting the multi-band spectral energy distributions with the CIGALE code. Most of the galaxies in our sample lie above the main sequence (MS), and the molecular depletion time is one to two orders of magnitude shorter than the one typically measured in local star-forming galaxies. Moreover, we found a promising correlation between the star formation efficiency and the Eddington ratio, as well as a tentative correlation with the AGN luminosity. The role played by the AGN activity in the regulation of star formation within the host galaxies of our sample remains uncertain (little or no effect? positive feedback?). Nevertheless, we can conclude that quenching by the AGN activity is minor and that star formation will likely stop in a short time due to gas exhaustion by the current starburst episode.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dissociation dynamics of the water dication following one-photon double ionization. I. Theory

The measurement of the triple differential cross section in the body frame for double photoionization of a molecule can be made in principle by detecting the ionic fragments and the two photoelectrons in coincidence - but only if the dynamics and geometry of dissociation of the doubly charged molecular ion are known. A classical trajectory study of the nine lowest states of the water dication is presented using high quality ab initio potential-energy surfaces. Sampling from a semiclassical initial distribution of positions and momenta is used to approximate ionization from the Frank-Condon region of the ground vibrational state of neutral H 2 O. Excellent agreement in comparison with preliminary experimental momentum imaging measurements of double photoionization of water show that eight dication states can be unambiguously identified in the experiment with the aid of theory. In conclusion, the theoretical trajectory results allow body frame measurements of double photoionization to yield all eight states even though the usual assumption of direct dissociation, the "axial recoil" approximation, breaks down for three of the dication electronic states seen in the experiment.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗