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At least 955 records · Page 53

Structural Properties of Nanometer‐Sized Gold Nanoparticles on a Silicon Substrate

Properties of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) supported on Si substrates, which have been the focus of recent attention, depend sensitively on the size, structure, and coordination of Au NPs as well as on the processes of interdiffusion and chemical bonding at the Au–Si interface. There is a great need, therefore, for developing structural techniques capable of imaging such nanosystems in atomic detail. Here, it is discussed how the atomic structure of nanometer‐sized Au NPs deposited on a silicon surface can be determined by using high‐energy X‐ray diffraction measurements in combination with an analysis based on atomic‐pair‐distribution functions and advanced reverse Monte Carlo methods. This approach delivers simple and incisive pictures of the structure of Au clusters on Si and reveals direct structural evidence for the emergence of a Au‐silicide interface following room temperature deposition of Au NPs on Si. This study will contribute to designing Au/Si nanostructures with desirable properties.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Organizational and psychological measures for data center energy efficiency: barriers and mitigation strategies

Abstract It was last estimated that in 2020, data centers comprised approximately 2% of total US electricity consumption, with an estimated annual growth rate of 4%. As our country increasingly relies on information technology (IT), our data centers (DCs) will need to increase their energy efficiency (EE) to stabilize their energy consumption. The task of studying EE in DCs is complicated by the interconnected nature of humans and mission-critical technical systems. Moreover, the literature tends to focus on technology solutions such as improvements to IT equipment, cooling infrastructure, and software, without addressing organizational and psychological drivers. Our research demystifies the complex interactions between humans and DCs, by asking What non-technical barriers impede EE investment decision-making and/or implementing energy management strategies? To begin to answer this question, we perform a literature review of 86 resources, ranging from peer-reviewed journal publications to handbooks. We also consider related fields such as organizational behavioral management and energy intensive buildings. We develop a public Zotero library, perform content coding, and complete a rudimentary network analysis. Our findings from the literature review suggest that (1) technological solutions are abundant in the literature but fall short of providing practical guidance on the pitfalls of implementation, (2) making energy efficiency a priority at the executive level of organizations will be largely ineffective if the IT and facilities staff are not directly incentivized to increase EE, and (3) there is minimal current understanding of how the individual psychologies of IT and facilities staff affect EE implementation in DCs. In the next phase of our research, we plan to interview data center operators/experts to ground-truth our literature findings and collaboratively design decarbonization policy solutions that target organizational structure, empower individual staff, and foster a supportive external market.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Expert and operator perspectives on barriers to energy efficiency in data centers

Abstract It was last estimated in 2016 that data centers (DCs) comprise approximately 2% of total US electricity consumption. However, this estimate is currently being updated to account for the massive increase in computing needs due to streaming, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence (AI). To prevent energy consumption that tracks with increasing computing needs, it is imperative we identify energy efficiency strategies and investments beyond the low-hanging fruit solutions. In a two-phased research approach, we ask: What non-technical barriers still impede energy efficiency (EE) practices and investments in the data center sector, and what can be done to overcome these barriers? In particular, we are focused on social and organizational barriers to EE. In Phase I, we performed a literature review and found that technical solutions are abundant in the literature, but fail to address the top-down cultural shifts that need to take place in order to adapt new energy efficiency strategies. In Phase II, reported here, we interviewed 16 data center operators/experts to ground-truth our literature findings. Our interview protocols focus on three aspects of DC decision-making: procurement practices, metrics and monitoring, and perceived barriers to energy efficiency. We find that vendors are the key drivers of procurement decisions, advanced efficiency metrics are facility-specific, and there is convergence in the design of advanced facilities due to the heat density of parallelized infrastructure. Our ultimate goals for our research are to design DC decarbonization policies that target organizational structure, empower individual staff, and foster a supportive external market.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Graphite crystals in catalytically-graphitized glass-like carbon

Catalytic graphitization of glass-like carbon leads to enhanced growth of micro-sized graphitic crystals with unusual shapes of wires, filaments, tubes, rods, whiskers, and spirals. Similar particles with axial symmetry are also found in pure glass-like carbon heat-treated at high temperatures. Nonetheless, the presence of a graphitization catalyst, Si in this case, in the heat-treatment process supports the transformation of porous, disordered carbon structure towards the graphitic atomic order and the formation of manifold peculiar polyhedral wires and particles of geometry distinct from the plate-like shape typical for conventional graphite. In contrast to conventional carbon nanotubes and fibers, the graphene layers are stacked perpendicular to the tube axis, while the size of the most common tube fibers can reach up to 10 μm in diameter and 100 μm in length. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering combined with complementary techniques have been used to characterize the structure of the glass-like carbon derived from furfuryl alcohol catalytically-graphitized using Si particles at 3000 °C. Finally, since control of graphite shape is vital to achieving the level of performance required in contemporary applications, the obtained results demonstrate that the catalytic graphitization method may be employed to produce filamentous graphite crystals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

X-ray absorption spectroscopy of trivalent Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy chlorides and oxychlorides

Growing interest in next generation molten salt nuclear reactors necessitates a fundamental understanding of the chemical and physico-chemical properties of fission products, including elements of the lanthanide series. In this study, we probed coordination environment of Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy in their chloride salts with both laboratory and synchrotron scale X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Here the aerobic melting was carried out with LnCl 3 ·nH 2 O, where Ln is Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy, and yielded predominant formation of oxychlorides (LnOCl), that was confirmed by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) computations were performed to obtain ground state structures, lattice parameters, and to simulate L 3 -edge XANES (X-ray absorption near edge structure) spectra of the LnCl 3 ·nH 2 O and LnOCl. A blue shift, initially predicted by our calculations, was also observed for the experimental Ln L 3 -edge XANES spectra of the hydrated trichlorides vs oxychlorides, highlighting the power of combining the predictive ability of theory with experiment to elucidate the properties of the compounds of interest. The blue shift is indicative of structural stabilization of LnCl 3 ·nH 2 O due to higher symmetry compared with LnOCl. To the best of knowledge, this is a first study providing the framework for fundamental insights into the structure of Ln trichlorides and oxychlorides in support of future characterization of lanthanides in the molten salt environment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Helical spin ordering in room-temperature metallic antiferromagnet Fe 3 Ga 4

Metallic Fe 3 Ga 4 displays a complex magnetic phase diagram that supports an intermediate antiferromagnetic (AFM) helical spin structure (HSS) state at room temperature which lies between two ferromagnetic (FM) phases. Here, magnetic measurements along the three crystallographic axes were performed in order to develop a model for the temperature and field dependence of the HSS state. These results show that the AFM state is a helically ordered spiral propagating along the c-axis with the magnetic moments rotating in the ab-plane. Under applied magnetic field, the AFM state exhibits a metamagnetic transition to conical ordering before entering a fully field-polarized FM state at high fields. The conical ordering in the AFM state is anisotropic even within the ab-plane and may gives rise to Berry phase effects in transport measurements. Metallic conductivity from density of states computations was confirmed through resistivity measurements and no anomalous behavior was observed through the various magnetic transitions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Binding of carboxylate and water to monovalent cations

The interactions of carboxylate anions with water and cations are important for a wide variety of systems, both biological and synthetic. Here, in order to gain insight on properties of the local complexes, we apply density functional theory, to treat the complex electrostatic interactions, and investigate mixtures with varied numbers of carboxylate anions (acetate) and waters binding to monovalent cations, Li + , Na + and K + . The optimal structure with overall lowest free energy contains two acetates and two waters such that the cation is four-fold coordinated, similar to structures found earlier for pure water or pure carboxylate ligands. More generally, the complexes with two acetates have the lowest free energy. In transitioning from the overall optimal state, exchanging an acetate for water has a lower free energy barrier than exchanging water for an acetate. In most cases, the carboxylates are monodentate and in the first solvation shell. As water is added to the system, hydrogen bonding between waters and carboxylate O atoms further stabilizes monodentate structures. These structures, which have strong electrostatic interactions that involve hydrogen bonds of varying strength, are significantly polarized, with ChelpG partial charges that vary substantially as the bonding geometry varies. Overall, these results emphasize the increasing importance of water as a component of binding sites as the number of ligands increases, thus affecting the preferential solvation of specific metal ions and clarifying Hofmeister effects. Finally, structural analysis correlated with free energy analysis supports the idea that binding to more than the preferred number of carboxylates under architectural constraints are a key to ion transport.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Inhibition mechanisms of AcrF9, AcrF8, and AcrF6 against type I-F CRISPR–Cas complex revealed by cryo-EM

Prokaryotes and viruses have fought a long battle against each other. Prokaryotes use CRISPR–Cas-mediated adaptive immunity, while conversely, viruses evolve multiple anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins to defeat these CRISPR–Cas systems. The type I-F CRISPR–Cas system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires the crRNA-guided surveillance complex (Csy complex) to recognize the invading DNA. Although some Acr proteins against the Csy complex have been reported, other relevant Acr proteins still need studies to understand their mechanisms. As such, here, we obtain three structures of previously unresolved Acr proteins (AcrF9, AcrF8, and AcrF6) bound to the Csy complex using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM), with resolution at 2.57 Å, 3.42 Å, and 3.15 Å, respectively. The 2.57-Å structure reveals fine details for each molecular component within the Csy complex as well as the direct and water-mediated interactions between proteins and CRISPR RNA (crRNA). Our structures also show unambiguously how these Acr proteins bind differently to the Csy complex. AcrF9 binds to key DNA-binding sites on the Csy spiral backbone. AcrF6 binds at the junction between Cas7.6f and Cas8f, which is critical for DNA duplex splitting. AcrF8 binds to a distinct position on the Csy spiral backbone and forms interactions with crRNA, which has not been seen in other Acr proteins against the Csy complex. Our structure-guided mutagenesis and biochemistry experiments further support the anti-CRISPR mechanisms of these Acr proteins. Our findings support the convergent consequence of inhibiting degradation of invading DNA by these Acr proteins, albeit with different modes of interactions with the type I-F CRISPR–Cas system.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Higher-order topological superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene

In this work, we show that introducing spin-singlet or spin-triplet superconductivity into twisted bilayer graphene induces higher-order topological superconductivity. Multiple copies of C 2z ⁢T-protected Majorana Kramers pairs appear at corners on pairing domain walls. The topology originates from the anomaly analyzed in Song et al.—the absence of a lattice support—of the single-valley band structure of twisted bilayer graphene, which is protected by C 2z ⁢T and approximate particle-hole symmetry $\mathcal{P}$. We prove that any pairing (spin-singlet or spin-triplet) term preserving valley-U(1), spin-SU(2), time-reversal, C 2z ⁢T, and $\mathcal{P}$ must drive the system into a higher-order topological superconductor. Here spin-SU(2) is the global spin-SU(2) for the singlet pairing and is broken to U(1) for the triplet pairing. Using a Dirac Hamiltonian, we derive the corner modes and confirm with numerics. These corner states are stable even if $\mathcal{P}$ is weakly broken, which is true in experimental setups. Finally, we suggest experimental detection via the fractional Josephson effect in a TBG-TSC Josephson junction.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Open Power System Datasets and Open Simulation Engines: A Survey Toward Machine Learning Applications

A major factor behind the success of machine learning (ML) models in multiple domains is the availability and accessibility of large, labeled, and well-organized datasets for training and benchmarking. In comparison, power grid datasets face three major challenges: (i) real-world data is often restricted by regulatory constraints, privacy reasons, or security concerns, making it difficult to obtain and work with; (ii) synthetic datasets, which are created to address these limitations, often have incomplete information and are released using specialized tools, making them inaccessible to the broader community; and, (iii) input-output datasets are difficult to generate through simulation for non-experts because open-source simulators are not known outside the power system community. This survey addresses these challenges by serving as an entry point to publicly available datasets and simulators for researchers venturing in this area. We review the current landscape of open-source power network data, machine models, consumer demand profiles, renewable generation data, and inverter models. We also examine open-source power system simulators, which are crucial for generating high-quality, high-fidelity power grid datasets. We aim to provide a foundation for overcoming data scarcity and advance towards a structured web of datasets and simulators to support the development of ML for power systems.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Synthesis of mesoporous silica using a mineral silica source

Abstract Mesoporous silica has been applied in catalysis, separations, and drug delivery. It has generally been made using organosilicon precursors such as tetraethyl orthosilicate. For sustainability, it is necessary to find readily accessible mineral sources for making mesoporous silica. In this work, we demonstrate the successful synthesis of mesoporous silica with 10 nm average pore size using the mineral forsterite (Mg 2 SiO 4 ) as a silica source, providing a potentially cheaper and more Earth‐friendly route to making technologically important porous silica materials. Pure forsterite was synthesized by a solid‐state chemistry route at 1000°C and underwent dissolution–reprecipitation in aqueous hydrochloric acid containing the soft template surfactant, Pluronic P123. Variations of initial reaction pH (−0.2 to 0.6), reaction time (12–24 h), reaction temperature (50 to 90°C), and silica precursor (forsterite and fumed silica) were performed. The mesoporous silica aged at 70°C for 24 h had the highest porosity, with a surface area of 735 m 2 /g and a pore volume of 1.4 ml/g, comparable to mesoporous silica made using conventional starting materials. This novel geomimetic synthesis route supports the possibility of analogous formation of structured (mesoporous or zeolitic) silica in nature under abiotic or prebiotic conditions.

Materials Science↗

Delimiting the cryptic diversity and host preferences of Sycophila parasitoid wasps associated with oak galls using phylogenomic data

Abstract Cryptic species diversity is a major challenge regarding the species‐rich community of parasitoids attacking oak gall wasps due to a high degree of sexual dimorphism, morphological plasticity, small size and poorly known biology. As such, we know very little about the number of species present, nor the evolutionary forces responsible for generating this diversity. One hypothesis is that trait diversity in the gall wasps, including the morphology of the galls they induce, has evolved in response to selection imposed by the parasitoid community, with reciprocal selection driving diversification of the parasitoids. Using a rare, continental‐scale data set of Sycophila parasitoid wasps reared from 44 species of cynipid galls from 18 species of oak across the USA, we combined mitochondrial DNA barcodes, ultraconserved elements (UCEs), morphological and natural history data to delimit putative species. Using these results, we generate the first large‐scale assessment of ecological specialization and host association in this species‐rich group, with implications for evolutionary ecology and biocontrol. We find most Sycophila target specific subsets of available cynipid host galls with similar morphologies, and generally attack larger galls. Our results suggest that parasitoid wasps such as Sycophila have adaptations allowing them to exploit particular host trait combinations, while hosts with contrasting traits are resistant to attack. These findings support the tritrophic niche concept for the structuring of plant–herbivore–parasitoid communities.

Zhang, Yuanmeng M.↗

Osprey Framework v0.2.2

The Alpha Berkeley Framework is a software architecture for building agentic AI systems that coordinate multi-step workflows in scientific and industrial environments. It is based on a plan-first orchestration model, where natural language requests are translated into execution plans with explicit dependencies and optional human approval. The framework includes capability classification, which selects relevant tools on a per-task basis to keep orchestration efficient as the number of available tools grows. It incorporates task extraction methods that compress conversational context and integrate external resources such as databases, APIs, and knowledge bases into structured, machine-readable tasks. Execution is supported by modular services with checkpointing, artifact management, and error handling, allowing workflows to be paused, inspected, and resumed. The system is designed for deployment in production environments, supporting both local and containerized execution as well as integration with HPC clusters. Interfaces include command-line tools, browser-based workflows, and containerized services. The framework has been demonstrated in tutorial examples and deployed at the Advanced Light Source, where it coordinates accelerator control and analysis workflows.

Hellert, Thorsten [Lawrence Berkeley National Labo↗

Additive Manufactured Metallic 3D Ox-Ox CMC Integrated Structures for 65% Combined Cycle Efficient Gas Turbine Components

To support the FOA objectives for the Area of interest “Advanced Combustion Turbines for Combined Cycle Applications”, Phase I initially targeted the integration of Metallic Additive Manufacturing (AM) and 3D Oxide-Oxide Ceramic Matrix Composites (3D Ox-Ox CMC) based design for an Advanced Vane design in support of 65% efficient gas turbines. Application of an AM-CMC-TBC vane was expected to significantly reduce cooling air consumption and result in emissions and/or performance improvements beyond the current SOTA metallic vane technology. The primary deliverable was a design concept ready for fabrication and test in a follow-on (Phase II) project.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Acoustic Travel-Time Tomography for Wind Energy

New remote sensing technologies for direct observation of the atmospheric flow in the proximity of operating wind turbines are necessary for the advancement of wind turbine design, wind plant control, and the validation of high-fidelity numerical models; fundamental goals of the DOE Wind Energy Technology Office's (WETO's) A2e program. Modern remote sensing technologies for commercial and research applications rely on the backscatter of light or sound waves, which limits spatial and temporal resolution and cannot produce reliable flow estimates near solid bodies or reflective surfaces. Acoustic tomography (AT) is an innovative sensing technology based on fundamental thermodynamic properties of the atmosphere and an inverse algorithm that can reconstruct both velocity and temperature fields within a network of acoustic transducers. AT relies on the direct travel path of acoustic signals between speakers and microphones in the network and can achieve much higher resolutions than conventional backscatter technologies. For wind energy R&D applications, AT represents an extremely economical option over other remote sensing technologies, integrating mature and commonly available acoustic and signal processing hardware. This report is intended as an update on the development of the AT array on the NREL Flatirons Campus (FC) and includes a brief review of the instrumentation, the calibration of equipment, signal processing, and resulting flow field estimates. Designs for future AT systems and applications are detailed in this report, including summaries of new capabilities, engineering and theoretical challenges, and anticipated costs help to outline future directions for AT technology R\&D. The potential for application of AT to utility-scale turbines is also discussed. Investing in the development of the proposed instrument will establish AT as a transformational RS technique that represents a significant advance in measurement instrumentation, enabling new fundamental insights into the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer and supporting applications for wind energy, pollution transport, and resource characterization. AT is also an extremely economical option over other RS instruments, integrating mature and commonly available acoustic and signal processing hardware.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Programmable Catalyst Structures via Adsorbate-Induced Adatom Assembly

The electronic structure and geometric configuration of oxide-supported metal ions are important coordination properties that can be related to catalytic activity and stability. Herein, we interrogate the coordination environment of mononuclear Pd ions supported on ceria using CO adsorption, infrared vibrational spectroscopy, and DFT modeling. We observed the 15 h continuous co-evolution of a palladium- (2167 cm -1 ) and cerium-carbonyl (2177 cm -1 ) complex by monitoring the $\nu$(CO) infrared region. The slow CO adsorption kinetics were caused by the reactive ligand exchange between an oxygen atom of the support and the CO adsorbate to yield an oxygen vacancy and adsorbed CO 2 . We hypothesize that the co-evolved cerium-carbonyl complex was formed upon CO adsorption at or adjacent to this oxygen vacancy. Our hypothesis was experimentally supported by a dramatic attenuation of the cerium carbonyl signal upon pre-adsorption of water through an apparent competitive adsorption mechanism. The attenuation was also accompanied by a 6 cm -1 redshift of the palladium carbonyl band (2161 cm -1 ) attributed to hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl and a nearby hydroxyl. Characteristic n(CO) stretch frequencies catalogued through CO adsorption onto single crystal ceria by Wöll et al.1 led us to index the cerium carbonyl to the {100} nanofacet of the polycrystalline ceria support. It follows from the observed co-evolution of the two carbonyl complexes that Pd was also adsorbed at the {100} nanofacet. Redeployment of a previously developed DFT model by Ivanova-Shor et al.2 featuring square-planar coordination of Pd2+ at the {100} nanofacet (O 4 Pd) of a Ce 21 O 42 nanoparticle model qualitatively reproduced several experimental observations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Generic, Sparse Tensor Core for Neural Networks

Sparse neural network attracts more attention for model compression, fast execution, and power reduction. The state-of-the-art designed sparse tensor core for structured and static sparsity, which did not support well for generic or dynamic sparsity. We design a sparse tensor core to support generic sparsity pruning with a novel hybrid and blocked sparse matrix storage format, HB-ELL, which saves computation and storage while keeping the most significant elements, as well as supporting dynamic sparsity for data flow in neural networks. We achieve better performance with preliminary results than the state-of- the-art on an NVIDIA GPU simulator.

Wu, Xiaolong↗

Considerations for Managing DOE Standard Canisters within an Over-canister as Part of an Integrated Waste Management System PPT

To better enable informed decision making regarding the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the Integrated Waste Management Program within the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) has been sponsoring research into a comprehensive integrated waste management system (IWMS) that considers all major back-end aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle (i.e., transportation, storage, and disposal). An important aspect of the IWMS is DOE-managed Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF). DOE and its predecessor agencies have generated, transported, received, stored, and reprocessed SNF at DOE facilities nationwide, and DOE is responsible for managing the SNF currently in its possession. These fuels come from a wide range of reactor types that employ various cladding materials, fuel materials, and enrichments. To enable interim, road-ready dry storage (RRDS) of the wide variety of SNF types found in the DOE inventory, a standardized canister system (i.e., the DOE Standard Canister) was proposed for the packaging demonstration. This robust, welded canister system is designed to confine radionuclides, prevent criticality by precluding content moderation, and satisfy other requirements as part of a larger storage, transportation, and disposal system. While SNF has yet to be loaded into a DOE Standard Canister, DOE Standard Canister designs were included in past storage facility and disposal facility design licensing endeavors. In a renewed effort to evaluate packaging SNF at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in a RRDS configuration, researchers are planning the RRDS Packaging Demonstration. This demonstration is supplemented by analytical structural, criticality, and material compatibility evaluations that support management of SNF in DOE Standard Canisters, taking advantage of past analysis work to the extent possible. One of the largest differences between the current Packaging Demonstration and past analytical evaluations is the inclusion of an over-canister containing multiple DOE Standard Canisters. For the Packaging Demonstration, DOE Standard Canisters loaded with SNF are planned to be placed in a larger diameter over-canister. The sealed over-canister could then be placed in a storage overpack for onsite storage, or in a transportation overpack for shipment to an offsite storage location or disposal site once one becomes available. This paper examines the relevant considerations and provides a preliminary evaluation of integrating the over-canister configuration into the storage, transportation, and disposal processes of the overall waste management system. For storage and transportation, the over-canister can be considered analogous to a multi-purpose canister (MPC) for commercial SNF. For disposal, the DOE Standard Canisters could be removed from the over-canister and placed in a co-disposal waste package with canisters containing vitrified high-level radioactive waste (HLW) similar to configurations examined previously, or the sealed over-canisters might be capable of direct disposal in a waste package.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗