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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 955 records · Page 53
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Tuning the Selectivity of Single-Site Supported Metal Catalysts with Ionic Liquids

1,3-Dialkylimidazolium ionic liquid coatings act as electron donors, increasing the selectivity for partial hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene catalyzed by iridium complexes supported on high-surface-area γ-Al 2 O 3 . High-energy-resolution fluorescence detection X-ray absorption near-edge structure (HERFD XANES) measurements quantify the electron donation and are correlated with the catalytic activity and selectivity. Furthermore, the results demonstrate broad opportunities to tune electronic environments and catalytic properties of atomically dispersed supported metal catalysts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Electronic Tuning of Metal Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Production

We here present an innovative approach to increase the electron density of metallic Pd nanoparticles loaded on TiO 2 photocatalysts by coordinating Pd with surface-anchored organic ligands. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near edge structure measurements confirm the negative charge on the Pd nanoparticle induced by electron donation from amine groups of the ligands. The electronically modified Pd on TiO 2 exhibits unprecedentedly high photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production from O 2 reduction. Mechanistic investigations suggest that the enhanced performance results from electronic tuning of Pd nanoparticles, leading to enhanced charge separation on the TiO2 support, improved activity of Pd nanoparticles as an oxygen reduction center, and improved selectivity for O2 reduction to produce H 2 O 2 .

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

Tuning Zr 12 O 22 Node Defects as Catalytic Sites in the Metal–Organic Framework hcp UiO-66

Defects in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) play important roles in MOF reactivity and catalysis. Now, we report evidence of the reactivity and the quantitative characterization of the missing linker defects on the Zr 12 O 22 nodes in the MOF hcp UiO-66 (these are paired Zr 6 O 8 nodes bridged by OH groups) and those on the Zr 6 O 8 nodes of the MOF UiO-66. The defect sites catalyze the ring-opening reactions of epoxides with alcohols, and new sites formed by removal of bridging OH groups on the Zr 12 O 22 nodes also participate in the catalysis. The hcp UiO-66 was synthesized from UiO-66 and from molecular precursors, and, under various synthesis conditions, the nodes incorporated acetate ligands, where linkers were missing, and the number of these ligands was controlled by the synthesis conditions. These ligands are inhibitors of the catalytic reactions, and their removal by reaction with, for example, methanol (to form, for example, methyl acetate) preceded catalysis on the defect sites. The former MOF incorporated more defect sites than the latter, correspondingly being a more active catalyst. The defect sites on the Zr 12 O 22 nodes are 2–6 times more active per site than those on the isolated Zr 6 O 8 nodes, with the node-bridging OH groups increasing the catalytic activity of the neighboring node defect sites because new sites are formed by their removal. In conclusion, the results help point the way to the design and control of catalytic sites on metal oxide-like MOF nodes by tuning of the number and reactivity of the defect sites.

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

Tuning Emission and Electron–Phonon Coupling in Lead-Free Halide Double Perovskite Cs 2 AgBiCl 6 under Pressure

Lead-free halide double perovskites have been proposed as candidates to replace Pb-halide perovskites in photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications due to their enhanced stability and nontoxicity. However, the limited understanding of the fundamental properties of halide double perovskites represents a hurdle to further improvement of their device performance. Our experimental studies demonstrate that the broad emission of Cs 2 AgBiCl 6 with a large Stokes shift stems primarily from exciton self-trapping owing to strong electron–phonon coupling. We report an unusual blue shift of the emission accompanied by a red shift of the absorption edge occurred due to the reduced lattice relaxation energy upon lattice compression in the cubic phase. Electron–phonon coupling reduction is critical to the enhancement of photoluminescence intensity and tuning emission range in Cs 2 AgBiCl 6 under high pressure. The structure–property relationships illuminated by our work can provide the basis for improving the performance of halide double perovskites.

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

Low-Voltage Haze Tuning with Cellulose-Network Liquid Crystal Gels

Being key components of the building envelope, glazing products with tunable optical properties are in great demand because of their potential for boosting energy efficiency and privacy features while enabling the main function of allowing natural light indoors. However, windows and skylights with electric switching of haze and transparency are rare and often require high voltages or electric currents, as well as not fully meet the stringent technical requirements for glazing applications. Here, by introducing a predesigned gel material we describe an approach dubbed “Haze-Switch” that involves low-voltage tuning of the haze coefficient in a broad range of 2–90% while maintaining high visible-range optical transmittance. The approach is based on a nanocellulose fiber gel network infiltrated by a nematic liquid crystal, which can be switched between polydomain and monodomain spatial patterns of optical axis via a dielectric coupling between the nematic domains and the applied external electric field. By utilizing a nanocellulose network of nanofibers ~10 nm in diameter we achieve <10 V dielectric switching and <2% haze in the clear state, as needed for applications in window products. Finally, we characterize physical properties relevant to window and smart glass technologies, like the color rendering index, haze coefficient, and switching times, demonstrating that our material and envisaged products can meet the stringent requirements of the glass industry, including applications such as privacy windows, skylights, sunroofs, and daylighting.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Atomically Fine-Tuning Organic–Inorganic Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Hydrogen Production

Polymeric membranes with great processability are attractive for the H 2 /CO 2 separation required for hydrogen production from renewable biomass with carbon capture for utilization and sequestration. However, it remains elusive to engineer polymer architectures to obtain desired sub-3.3 Å ultramicropores to efficiently sieve H 2 from CO 2 . Herein, we demonstrate a scalable way of carbonizing polybenzimidazole (PBI) at low temperatures, followed by vapor phase infiltration (VPI) to atomically narrow ultramicropores throughout the films, forming hybrid organic–inorganic carbon molecular sieves (CMSs). One VPI cycle (100 s) for the PBI carbonized at 500 °C remarkably increases H 2 /CO 2 selectivity from 9.6 to 83 at 100 °C, surpassing Robeson’s upper bound. The CMS demonstrates a stable H 2 /CO 2 separation performance when challenged with simulated syngas streams and can be fabricated into thin-film composite membranes, outperforming state-of-the-art membranes. Finally, the scalable approach can be ubiquitous to molecularly fine-tune ultramicropores of leading polymeric membranes to further improve their size-sieving ability and thus separation efficiency.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

On-Chip Tuning of Superconductivity in Fullerides via Current-Driven Rb + Intercalation

An in-operando electro-intercalation method for the on-chip synthesis of alkali-metal-intercalated materials and their Raman spectroscopic and transport characterization in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) is developed. We apply this method to synthesize fulleride superconductors via Rb + intercalation into a C 60 film. During the intercalation, we monitor the stoichiometry via UHV-Raman spectroscopy and probe superconductivity via transport measurements. An increase of the superconducting transition temperature from 7.0 K to 14.5 K is observed when the stoichiometry is tuned from Rb 2.7 C 60 to Rb 3 C 60 . In our experiment, an ionic Rb+ flux into the host material is induced by an applied electronic current via a Butler–Volmer-type mechanism. Electro-intercalation captivates through improved stoichiometric precision, the ability to smoothly vary stoichiometry via duration of current application, and the absence of a lower limit of the volume of the host material. It represents a powerful concept for the on-chip synthesis of intercalated materials, battery research, and beyond.

Raman↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tuning of Plasmons in Transparent Conductive Oxides by Carrier Accumulation

A metal naturally displays dramatic changes in its optical properties near the plasma frequency where the permittivity changes from a negative to a positive value, and the material turns from highly reflective to transparent. For many applications, it is desirable to achieve such large optical changes by electrical gating. However, this is challenging given the high carrier density of most metals, which causes them to effectively screen externally applied electrical fields. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a low-electron-density metal that does afford electric tuning of its permittivity in the infrared spectral range. In this paper, we experimentally show the tunability of the plasma frequency of an ITO thin film by changing its sheet carrier density via gating with an ionic liquid. By applying moderate gate bias values up to 1.4 V, the electron density increases in a thin (~3 nm) accumulation layer at the surface of the 15-nm-thick ITO film. This results in notable blue shifts in the plasma frequency. These optical and electrical changes are monitored simultaneously, which facilitates construction of a model that provides a consistent picture for the dc electrical and infrared optical properties. It can be used to quantitatively predict the optical changes in the ITO layer with applied bias. Finally, this work builds our understanding of electrically tunable plasmonic materials and aids the design of ultracompact, active nanophotonic elements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Genome-Wide Tuning of Protein Expression Levels to Rapidly Engineer Microbial Traits

The reliable engineering of biological systems requires quantitative mapping of predictable and context-independent expression over a broad range of protein expression levels. However, current techniques for modifying expression levels are cumbersome and are not amenable to high-throughput approaches. Here we present major improvements to current techniques through the design and construction of E. coli genome-wide libraries using synthetic DNA cassettes that can tune expression over a ~10 4 range. The cassettes also contain molecular barcodes that are optimized for next-generation sequencing, enabling rapid and quantitative tracking of alleles that have the highest fitness advantage. We show these libraries can be used to determine which genes and expression levels confer greater fitness to E. coli under different growth conditions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Controlling Dielectric and Relaxor-Ferroelectric Properties for Energy Storage by Tuning Pb 0.92 La 0.08 Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 Film Thickness

The energy storage properties of Pb 0.92 La 0.08 Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 (PLZT) films grown via pulsed laser deposition were evaluated at variable film thickness of 125, 250, 500, and 1000 nm. These films show high dielectric permittivity up to ~1200. Cyclic I–V measurements were used to evaluate the dielectric properties of these thin films, which not only provide the total electric displacement, but also separate contributions from each of the relevant components including electric conductivity (D1), dielectric capacitance (D2), and relaxor-ferroelectric domain switching polarization (P). Our results show that, as the film thickness increases, the material transits from a linear dielectric to nonlinear relaxor-ferroelectric. And while the energy storage per volume increases with the film thickness, the energy storage efficiency drops from ~80% to ~30%. The PLZT films can be optimized for different energy storage applications by tuning the film thickness to optimize between the linear and nonlinear dielectric properties and energy storage efficiency.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Facile Fabrication of Composition-Tuned Ru-Ni Bimetallics in Ordered Mesoporous Carbon for Levulinic Acid Hydrogenation

Bimetallic catalysts are of great importance due to their unique catalytic properties. However, their conventional synthesis requires tedious multistep procedures and prolonged synthetic time, and the resulting bimetallics usually disperse unevenly and show poor stability. It is challenging to develop a facile and step-economic synthetic methodology for highly efficient bimetallic catalysts. In this study, we report an elegant metal complex-involved multicomponent assembly route to highly efficient Ru–Ni bimetallics in ordered mesoporous carbons (OMC). The fabrication of composition-tuned Ru–Ni bimetallics in OMC (Ru x Ni 1–x –OMC, x = 0.5–0.9) was facilely realized via in situ construction of CTAB-directed cubic Ia3d chitosan-ruthenium–nickel–silica mesophase before pyrolysis and silica removal. The resulting Ru x Ni 1–x –OMC materials are in-depth characterized with X-ray diffraction, N 2 adsorption–desorption, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectrum, and X-ray absorption fine structure. This facile fabrication method renders homogeneously dispersed Ru–Ni bimetallics embedded in the mesoporous carbonaceous framework and creates a highly active and stable Ru 0.9 Ni 0.1 –OMC catalyst for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to prepare γ-valerolactone (GVL), a biomass-derived platform molecule with wide application in the preparation of renewable chemicals and liquid transportation fuels. A high TOF (>2000 h –1 ) was obtained, and the Ru 0.9 Ni 0.1 –OMC catalyst could be used at least 15 times without obvious loss of its catalytic performance.

Yang, Ying↗
DOE OSTI2012

Role of support-nanoalloy interactions in the atomic-scale structural and chemical ordering for tuning catalytic sites

The understanding of the atomic-scale structural and chemical ordering in supported nanosized alloy particles is fundamental for achieving active catalysts by design. This report shows how such knowledge can be obtained by a combination of techniques including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation based x-ray fine structure absorption spectroscopy and high-energy x-ray diffraction coupled to atomic pair distribution function analysis, and how the support-nanoalloy interaction influences the catalytic activity of a ternary nanoalloy (platinum-nickel-cobalt) particles on three different supports: carbon, silica and titania. The reaction of carbon monoxide with oxygen is employed as a probe of the catalytic activity. This ternary composition, in combination with the different support materials, is demonstrated to be capable of fine-tuning the catalytic activity and stability. The support-nanoalloy interaction is shown to influence structural and chemical ordering in the nanoparticles, leading to support-tunable active sites on the nanoalloys for oxygen activation in the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide. A nickel/cobalt-tuned catalytic site on the surface of nanoalloy was revealed for oxygen activation, which differs from the traditional oxygen-activation sites known for oxide-supported noble metal catalysts. The discovery of such support-nanoalloy interaction enabled oxygen-activation sites introduces a very promising strategy for designing active catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis.

activation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Improvement of Oxygen Reduction Performance in Alkaline Media by Tuning Phase Structure of Pd–Bi Nanocatalysts

Tuning the crystal phase of bimetallic nanocrystals offers an alternative avenue to improving their electrocatalytic performance. Herein, we present a facile and one-pot synthesis approach that is used to enhance the catalytic activity and stability toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media via control of the crystal structure of Pd-Bi nanocrystals. By merely altering the types of Pd precursors under the same conditions, the monoclinic structured Pd 5 Bi 2 and conventional face-centered cubic (fcc) structured Pd 3 Bi nanocrystals with comparable size and morphology can be precisely synthesized, respectively. Interestingly, the carbon-supported monoclinic Pd 5 Bi 2 nanocrystals exhibit superior ORR activity in alkaline media, delivering a mass activity (MA) as high as 2.05 A/mg Pd . After 10,000 cycles of ORR durability test, the monoclinic structured Pd 5 Bi 2 /C nanocatalysts still remain a MA of 1.52 A/mg Pd , which is 3.6 times, 16.9 times, and 21.7 times as high as those of the fcc Pd 3 Bi/C counterpart, commercial Pd/C, and Pt/C electrocatalysts, respectively. Moreover, structural characterizations of the monoclinic Pd 5 Bi 2 /C nanocrystals after the durability test demonstrate the excellent retention of the original size, morphology, composition, and crystal phase, greatly alleviating the leaching of the Bi component. Overall, this work provides new insight for the synthesis of multimetallic catalysts with a metastable phase and demonstrates phase-dependent catalytic performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Steric Effect Tuned Ion Solvation Enabling Stable Cycling of High-Voltage Lithium Metal Battery

1,2-Dimethoxyethane (DME) is a common electrolyte solvent for lithium metal batteries. Various DME-based electrolyte designs have improved long-term cyclability of high-voltage full cells. However, insufficient Coulombic efficiency at the Li anode and poor high-voltage stability remain a challenge for DME electrolytes. Here, we report a molecular design principle that utilizes a steric hindrance effect to tune the solvation structures of Li + ions. In this work, we hypothesized that by substituting the methoxy groups on DME with larger-sized ethoxy groups, the resulting 1,2-diethoxyethane (DEE) should have a weaker solvation ability and consequently more anion-rich inner solvation shells, both of which enhance interfacial stability at the cathode and anode. Experimental and computational evidence indicates such steric-effect-based design leads to an appreciable improvement in electrochemical stability of lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI)/DEE electrolytes. Under stringent full-cell conditions of 4.8 mAh cm –2 NMC811, 50 μm thin Li, and high cutoff voltage at 4.4 V, 4 M LiFSI/DEE enabled 182 cycles until 80% capacity retention while 4 M LiFSI/DME only achieved 94 cycles. This work points out a promising path toward the molecular design of non-fluorinated ether-based electrolyte solvents for practical high-voltage Li metal batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Twists and Puckers: Tuning Crystal Chemistry in the La(Au x Ge 1– x ) 2 Compositional Series

The physical properties of solid-state materials are closely tied to their crystal structure, yet our understanding of how competing structural arrangements energetically compare is limited. In this work, we explore how small differences in composition affect structure in the La(Au x Ge 1-x ) 2 series of compounds, comprising four unique structure types between LaGe 2 and LaAu 2 . This family includes the previously unknown AlB2-type compound with the stoichiometry La(Au 0.375 Ge 0.625 ) 2 , as well as La(Au 0.25 Ge 0.75 ) 2 , an intergrowth of the AlB 2 and ThSi 2 structure types. We then study the chemical forces driving the structure changes, including using phonon band structure calculations and DFT Chemical Pressure to evaluate atomic size effects. These calculations show that the parent AlB 2 structure type is disfavored in Au-rich compounds due to soft atomic motions along the c axis. The instability of AlB 2 -type LaAuGe is confirmed by the presence of imaginary modes in the phonon band structure that correspond to a ‘puckering’ of the hexagonal AlB 2 -type lattice, resulting in the experimentally observed LiGaGe structure type. The impact of size effects is less clear for Au-poor compositions; instead, ‘twisting’ the AlB 2 structure type to form the ThSi 2 type opens a pseudogap at the Fermi level in the electronic density of states. Here, this investigation demonstrates how crystal structure in solid-state materials can be compositionally tuned based on balancing size and electronics when multiple structure types are in close thermodynamic competition.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Aliovalent Substitution Tunes Physical Properties in a Conductive Bis(dithiolene) Two-Dimensional Metal–Organic Framework

Two-dimensional conductive metal–organic frameworks have emerged as promising electronic materials for applications in (opto)electronic, thermoelectric, magnetic, electrocatalytic, and energy storage devices. Many bottom-up or postsynthetic protocols have been developed to isolate these materials or further modulate their electronic properties. However, some methodologies commonly used in classic semiconductors, notably, aliovalent substitution, are conspicuously absent. Here, in this work, we demonstrate how aliovalent Fe(III) to Ni(II) substitution enables the isolation of a Ni bis(dithiolene) material from a previously reported Fe analogue. Detailed characterization supports the idea that aliovalent substitution of Fe(III) to Ni(II) results in an in situ oxidation of the organic dithiolene linker. This substitution-induced redox tuning modulates the electronic properties in the system, leading to higher electrical conductivity and Hall mobility but slightly lower carrier densities and weaker antiferromagnetic interactions. Moreover, this aliovalent substitution improves the material’s electrochemical stability and thus enables pseudocapacitive behavior in the Ni material. These results demonstrate how classic aliovalent substitution strategies in semiconductors can also be leveraged in conductive MOFs and add further support to this class of compounds as emerging electronic materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Kinetics Tuning of Li-Ion Diffusion in Layered Li(Ni x Mn y Co z )O 2

Using ab initio calculations combined with experiments, we clarified how the kinetics of Li-ion diffusion can be tuned in LiNixMnyCozO2 (NMC, x + y + z = 1) materials. It is found that Li-ions tend to choose oxygen dumbbell hopping (ODH) at the early stage of charging (delithiation), and tetrahedral site hopping (TSH) begins to dominate when more than 1/3 Li-ions are extracted. In both ODH and TSH, the Li-ions surrounded by nickel (especially with low valence state) are more likely to diffuse with low activation energy and form an advantageous path. The Li slab space, which also contributes to the effective diffusion barriers, is found to be closely associated with the delithiation process (Ni oxidation) and the contents of Ni, Co, and Mn.

Wei, Yi↗
DOE OSTI2016

Tuning of Photoluminescence by Cation Nanosegregation in the (CaMg) x (NaSc) 1– x Si 2 O 6 Solid Solution

Controlled photoluminescence tuning is important for the optimization and modification of phosphor materials. Herein we report an isostructural solid solution of (CaMg) x (NaSc) 1-x Si 2 O 6 (0 < x < 1) in which cation nanosegregation leads to the presence of two dilute Eu 2+ centers. The distinct nanodomains of isostructural (CaMg)Si 2 O 6 and (NaSc)Si 2 O 6 contain a proportional number of Eu 2+ ions with unique, independent spectroscopic signatures. Density functional theory calculations provided a theoretical understanding of the nanosegregation and indicated that the homogeneous solid solution is energetically unstable. It is shown that nanosegregation allows predictive control of color rendering and therefore provides a new method of phosphor development.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗