Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Surface Science”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 973 records · Page 54

Ink-substrate interactions during 3D printing revealed by time-resolved coherent X-ray scattering

Additive printing techniques are regarded as revolutionary and versatile methods of advanced device manufacturing, stemming from the possibility to pattern materials on a custom-based approach and the potential to create novel microstructures and achieve new functionalities. Despite these advantages, the inherent anisotropy of the printing process is a source of property gradients within the printed materials, often associated with variable and/or poor performance. Up to date, the evolutionary pathways associated with printing have largely remained unaddressed, mainly owing to the difficulty to study the transformations induced in the material during processing. Time-resolved coherent X-ray scattering techniques, such as X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, enable the in situ study of transient nanoscale and mesoscale states in a large variety of materials, including amorphous ones, by directly accessing the most relevant timescales and length scales of their nanoscale and mesoscale dynamics, self-assembly, and mesostructure evolution. In this work, we conduct in operando studies of continuous-flow direct writing with colloidal inks, focusing on how the ink formulation and ink-substrate interactions affect the processes that determine the macroscopic properties of the printed materials. We find fundamental differences in the ink structural relaxations emerging from the primary colloid properties (monodisperse versus aggregated colloids) and the substrates surface energy and mechanical properties. Our work helps to reveal and quantify the basic science governing the evolution of 3D-printed materials during processing, ultimately improving engineering criteria for the design of printable materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quantitative phenotyping of crop roots with spectral electrical impedance tomography: a rhizotron study with optimized measurement design

Background: Root systems are key contributors to plant health, resilience, and, ultimately, yield of agricultural crops. To optimize plant performance, phenotyping trials are conducted to breed plants with diverse root traits. However, traditional analysis methods are often labour-intensive and invasive to the root system, therefore limiting high-throughput phenotyping. Spectral electrical impedance tomography (sEIT) could help as a non-invasive and cost-efficient alternative to optical root analysis, potentially providing 2D or 3D spatio-temporal information on root development and activity. Although impedance measurements have been shown to be sensitive to root biomass, nutrient status, and diurnal activity, only few attempts have been made to employ tomographic algorithms to recover spatially resolved information on root systems. In this study, we aim to establish relationships between tomographic electrical polarization signatures and root traits of different fine root systems (maize, pinto bean, black bean, and soy bean) under hydroponic conditions. Results: Our results show that, with the use of an optimized data acquisition scheme, sEIT is capable of providing spatially resolved information on root biomass and root surface area for all investigated root systems. We found strong correlations between the total polarization strength and the root biomass (R 2 = 0.82) and root surface area (R 2 = 0.8). Our findings suggest that the captured polarization signature is dominated by cell-scale polarization processes. Additionally, we demonstrate that the resolution characteristics of the measurement scheme can have a significant impact on the tomographic reconstruction of root traits. Conclusion: Our findings showcase that sEIT is a promising tool for the tomographic reconstruction of root traits in high-throughput root phenotyping trials and should be evaluated as a substitute for traditional, often time-consuming, root characterization methods.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Statistical Tool Size Study for Computer-Controlled Optical Surfacing

Over the past few decades, computer-controlled optical surfacing (CCOS) systems have become more deterministic. A target surface profile can be predictably achieved with a combination of tools of different sizes. However, deciding the optimal set of tool sizes that will achieve the target residual error in the shortest run time is difficult, and no general guidance has been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we present a computer-assisted study on choosing the proper tool size for a given surface error map. First, we propose that the characteristic frequency ratio (CFR) can be used as a general measure of the correction capability of a tool over a surface map. Second, the performance of different CFRs is quantitatively studied with a computer simulation by applying them to guide the tool size selection for polishing a large number of randomly generated surface maps with similar initial spatial frequencies and root mean square errors. Finally, we find that CFR = 0.75 achieves the most stable trade-off between the total run time and the number of iterations and thus can be used as a general criterion in tool size selection for CCOS processes. To the best of our knowledge, the CFR is the first criterion that ties tool size selection to overall efficiency.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Nanofabrication of silicon surfaces for reduced virus adhesion

Nanofabrication is a remarkably effective technique to create desirable nanoscale patterns. Here, the effect of surface nanofabrication on altering virus adhesion to the substrates was examined. Arrays of nanoholes, 50 nm in diameter, 22 nm deep, and 100 nm in pitch distance, were created on silicon (Si) wafers by electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching. MS2 coliphage, which is 26 ± 2 nm in diameter and is frequently used as a surrogate for human viruses, was applied to investigate the interaction between the virions and smooth or nanostructured Si surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy along with surface wettability analyses revealed that the nanofabrication had the effect of reducing not only the number of viruses attached but also the strength of virus adhesion. These effects were ascribed to the presence of nanoholes, which were inaccessible to the virions due to the unique surface topographical parameters and the surface chemistry, resulting in the decrease of the overall solid contact area for MS2 attachment. The periodic spacing of the nanoholes also limited the unit landing area for MS2 particles, restricting the formation of MS2 aggregates and leading to the reduced amount of MS2 attachment. We anticipate that smart design of a surface’s chemical composition and nanostructure will offer a feasible solution to improve mitigations for controlling viral adhesion and transmission to and from food contact surfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Electrolytically Assisted Surface Decontamination (EASD{sup TM}) for POCO Operations - 20282

NNL in collaboration with C-Tech Innovation Ltd and Sellafield Ltd has been exploring innovative technologies to enable a significant reduction of radiological hazards within facilities during the Post Operational Clean Out (POCO) phase of a nuclear plant's life cycle. Reducing the hazard by effectively decontaminating plants in-situ during POCO delivers huge cost reductions for future decommissioning operations. These cost reduction benefits are realized by reducing the number and complexity of remote operations as well as lowering the long-term waste disposal costs. Whilst chemical decontamination can achieve the desired level of decontamination, applying aggressive chemical reagents is hazardous, potentially difficult to control and requires there to be complimentary effluent treatment and waste routes. This work has aimed to develop flexible and controllable decontamination processes which could be operated without the additional complexity and issues associated with chemical decontamination. The processes needed to be relatively fast and effective to minimize the time operators would spend in an active area. In addition, there was a driver to produce decontamination methodologies which generated a secondary waste compatible with current routes and which takes advantage of current waste capacity. The strategy therefore was to come up with a solution that works with, rather than against, the science and engineering behind process plants at Sellafield. Electrolytically Assisted Surface Decontamination (EASD{sup TM}) is an innovative electrochemical decontamination process (developed by NNL and C-Tech Innovation Ltd) that can remove activity from contaminated metal in very short time periods. Application of the patented electric waveform to the surface when treating contaminated metal with nitric acid has been shown to significantly enhance the decontamination performance. When compared to proposed baseline washout procedures at Sellafield, the only change to the process is the applied electrical waveform which is temporary and controllable. The current causes dissolution of the metal surface being decontaminated which leads to activity transferring from the plant item into the nitric acid effluent stream. This innovation has the potential to transform the POCO process and allow a nitric acid based washout approach to deliver POCO quickly and cost effectively within the existing infrastructure. Several devices have now been designed that incorporate this EASD{sup TM} technology and enable the decontamination process to be applied to a range items commonly identified as being contaminated during nuclear decommissioning programmes such as pipework, tanks and hotspots of walls/floors. Inactive and active laboratory-scale testing has been completed using both simulated and 'real-life' contaminated (low level waste) metallic items retrieved from different nuclear sites. Active trials demonstrated that contaminated items could be treated to free release levels within minutes. Engineering scale tests are currently being performed, with guidance from Sellafield's system engineers and plant managers, to provide the necessary re-assurance the designed devices could be successfully deployed in an on-plant scenario. The final stage of this development work is to carry out an active demonstration of the decontamination technology on Thorp at Sellafield. This paper aims to highlight progress made to date with the EASD{sup TM} technology and, more specifically, the development of an in-situ decontamination device for deployment within radioactive pipework. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Challenges in atomic layer etching of gallium nitride using surface oxidation and ligand-exchange

Two atomic layer etching (ALE) methods were studied for crystalline GaN, based on oxidation, fluorination, and ligand exchange. Etching was performed on unintentionally doped GaN grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. For the first step, the GaN surfaces were oxidized using either water vapor or remote O 2 -plasma exposure to produce a thin oxide layer. Removal of the surface oxide was addressed using alternating exposures of hydrogen fluoride (HF) and trimethylgallium (TMG) via fluorination and ligand exchange, respectively. Several HF and TMG super cycles were implemented to remove the surface oxide. Each ALE process was monitored in situ using multiwavelength ellipsometry. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed for the characterization of surface composition and impurity states. Additionally, the thermal and plasma-enhanced ALE methods were performed on patterned wafers and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to measure the surface change. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicated that F and O impurities remained on etched surfaces for both ALE processes. Ellipsometry indicated a slight reduction in thickness. TEM indicated a removal rate that was less than predicted. In conclusion, we suggest that the etch rates were reduced due to the ordered structure of the oxide formed on crystalline GaN surfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Global impacts of vegetation clumping on regulating land surface heat fluxes

The clumping index (CI) quantifies the non-random distribution of vegetation across space, which regulates the canopy radiative transfer processes and land surface carbon, water, and energy cycles. However, its impact on global surface energy budget, particularly sensible heat fluxes and surface temperature, is not well understood. Additionally, while there have been studies showing significant seasonal variations in CI, the impacts of these variations on surface energy fluxes remain unclear. In this study, we incorporated satellite-derived spatially and temporally explicit CI data into the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5) to evaluate the effects of CI on global land energy fluxes. Our results showed that including CI increased the global mean sensible heat flux dissipated from ground by 3.9 W m -2 (~18%), while decreasing the global mean vegetation sensible heat flux by 4.9 W m -2 (~65%), resulting in a total sensible heat decrease of 1.0 W m -2 (~3%). In contrast, CI increased the global mean latent heat flux by 0.8 W m -2 (~2%), primarily due to increased evapotranspiration (up to 11 W m -2 ) in tropical regions. We also found considerable impacts of seasonal variations in CI, particularly on sensible heat fluxes from ground and vegetation in evergreen needleleaf forests and deciduous needleleaf forests. Using constant CI rather than considering seasonal variations resulted in significant overestimation and underestimation of the sensible heat fluxes from vegetation and ground, respectively, in boreal summer. In conclusion, these changes in surface energy fluxes caused by CI and its seasonal variations led to up to 1.7 and 0.5 K differences in simulated mean ground temperature. These findings highlight the importance of including CI and considering its seasonal variations in modeling land surface energy fluxes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Evaluation of VEGETATION and PROBA-V Phenology Using PhenoCam and Eddy Covariance Data

High-quality retrieval of land surface phenology (LSP) is increasingly important for understanding the effects of climate change on ecosystem function and biosphere–atmosphere interactions. We analyzed four state-of-the-art phenology methods: threshold, logistic-function, moving-average and first derivative based approaches, and retrieved LSP in the North Hemisphere for the period 1999–2017 from Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) SPOT-VEGETATION and PROBA-V leaf area index (LAI) 1 km V2.0 time series. We validated the LSP estimates with near-surface PhenoCam and eddy covariance FLUXNET data over 80 sites of deciduous forests. Results showed a strong correlation (R 2 > 0.7) between the satellite LSP and ground-based observations from both PhenoCam and FLUXNET for the timing of the start (SoS) and R 2 > 0.5 for the end of season (EoS). The threshold-based method performed the best with a root mean square error of ~9 d with PhenoCam and ~7 d with FLUXNET for the timing of SoS (30th percentile of the annual amplitude), and ~12 d and ~10 d, respectively, for the timing of EoS (40th percentile).

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Biogeophysical Effects of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change Not Detectable in Warmest Month

Land-use and land-cover changes (hereafter simply “land use”) alter climates biogeophysically by affecting surface fluxes of energy and water. Yet, near-surface temperature responses to land use across observational versus model-based studies and spatial-temporal scales can be inconsistent. Here we assess the prevalence of the historical land use signal of daily maximum temperatures averaged over the warmest month of the year (t LU ) using regularized optimal fingerprinting for detection and attribution. We use observations from the Climatic Research Unit and Berkeley Earth alongside historical simulations with and without land use from phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project to reconstruct an experiment representing the effects of land use on climate. To assess the signal of land use at spatially resolved continental and global scales, we aggregate all input data across reference regions and continents, respectively. At both scales, land use does not comprise a significantly detectable set of forcings for two of four Earth system models and their multimodel mean. Furthermore, using a principal component analysis, we find that t LU is mostly composed of the nonlocal effects of land use rather than its local effects. These findings show that, at scales relevant for climate attribution, uncertainties in Earth system model representations of land use are too high relative to the effects of internal variability to confidently assess land use.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

de Gennes Narrowing and Relationship between Structure and Dynamics in Self-Organized Ion-Beam Nanopatterning

Investigating the relationship between structure and dynamical processes is a central goal in condensed matter physics. Perhaps the most noted relationship between the two is the phenomenon of de Gennes narrowing, in which relaxation times in liquids are proportional to the scattering structure factor. Here, a similar relationship is discovered during the self-organized ion-beam nanopatterning of silicon using coherent x-ray scattering. However, in contrast to the exponential relaxation of fluctuations in classic de Gennes narrowing, the dynamic surface exhibits a wide range of behaviors as a function of the length scale, with a compressed exponential relaxation at lengths corresponding to the dominant structural motif—self-organized nanoscale ripples. These behaviors are reproduced in simulations of a nonlinear model describing the surface evolution. Our team suggests that the compressed exponential behavior observed here is due to the morphological persistence of the self-organized surface ripple patterns which form and evolve during ion-beam nanopatterning.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Three influential factors on colloidal nanoparticle deposition for heat conduction enhancement in 3D chip stacks

Thermal management is one of the major challenges facing the development of three-dimensional (3D) chip stacks. Recently, experimental studies have shown that neck-based thermal structure (NTS) between chip layers formed by drying of colloidal suspension in cavity filled with micro-size particles can improve the vertical heat conduction threefold. However, a deep understanding of the mechanisms of neck formation and its influence on heat conduction is still lacking. In this paper, we numerically study the effects of three parameters, i.e., initial nanoparticle concentration, drying temperature and chip surface wettability on neck formation between filler particles and on the resulting heat conduction of the NTS. With increasing nanoparticle concentration, the size and number of necks increase, resulting in an increased effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of NTS. The drying temperature is found to have only little influence on the ETC of resultant NTS, while the neck size and spatial distribution become more uniform at higher drying temperature. When reducing the wettability of the top and bottom surfaces of the cavity, the necks shrink in size until completing evacuating at the top and bottom layers, while the size of the necks between filler particles in the middle height of the cavity expands slowly. In consequence, the ETC of NTS drops at an increasing rate. Being able to reveal the underlying multiple mechanisms of two-phase flow, phase change and heat transport, the current numerical study suggests optimal values for the deposition process, with initial nanoparticle concentration over 0.8%, a drying temperature of 60°C and a uniform contact angle of 30° for practical production of NTS.

3D chip stacks↗

Chemical Impacts of Potential CO2 and Brine Leakage on Groundwater Quality with Quantitative Risk Assessment: A Case Study of the Farnsworth Unit

Potential leakage of reservoir fluids is considered a key risk factor for geologic CO2 sequestration (GCS), with concerns of their chemical impacts on the quality of overlying underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). Effective risk assessment provides useful information to guide GCS activities for protecting USDWs. In this study, we present a quantified risk assessment case study of an active commercial-scale CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and sequestration field, the Farnsworth Unit (FWU). Specific objectives of this study include: (1) to quantify potential risks of CO2 and brine leakage to the overlying USDW quality with response surface methodology (RSM); and (2) to identify water chemistry indicators for early detection criteria. Results suggest that trace metals (e.g., arsenic and selenium) are less likely to become a risk due to their adsorption onto clay minerals; no-impact thresholds based on site monitoring data could be a preferable reference for early groundwater quality evaluation; and pH is suggested as an indicator for early detection of a leakage. This study may provide quantitative insight for monitoring strategies on GCS sites to enhance the safety of long-term CO2 sequestration.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Electron Linear Accelerator Additive Manufacturing

Superconducting electron linear accelerators open up new opportunities for advanced materials processing. High energy electrons penetrate deeper within materials, increase the processing depth and rate and enables production of far-from-equilibrium materials and selective processing within a material surface and subsurface. With support from the Office of Naval Research, NASA, and DoE, Mainstream Engineering commissioned a superconducting linear electron accelerator to investigate advanced materials processing and additive manufacturing. The goal of Mainstream's Electron Beam Enabled Advanced Manufacturing (EBEAM) center is to develop unique, far-from-equilibrium materials and alleviate significant technological deficiencies. We will present results of irradiating various metals and their unique material properties. Monte Carlo simulations electron beam and sample interaction were used to optimize the processing parameters and study far-from-equilibrium processing conditions. Applications include stainless steel additive manufacturing for small modular nuclear reactors and dissimilar metal bonding of corrosion-resistant cladding for next-generation molten salt reactors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

On the Dynamics of the Carbon–Bromine Bond Dissociation in the 1-Bromo-2-Methylnaphthalene Radical Anion

This paper studies the mechanism of electrochemically induced carbon–bromine dissociation in 1-Br-2-methylnaphalene in the reduction regime. In particular, the bond dissociation of the relevant radical anion is disassembled at a molecular level, exploiting quantum mechanical calculations including steady-state, equilibrium and dissociation dynamics via dynamic reaction coordinate (DRC) calculations. DRC is a molecular-dynamic-based calculation relying on an ab initio potential surface. This is to achieve a detailed picture of the dissociation process in an elementary molecular detail. From a thermodynamic point of view, all the reaction paths examined are energetically feasible. The obtained results suggest that the carbon halogen bond dissociates following the first electron uptake follow a stepwise mechanism. Indeed, the formation of the bromide anion and an organic radical occurs. The latter reacts to form a binaphthalene intrinsically chiral dimer. This paper is respectfully dedicated to Professors Anny Jutand and Christian Amatore for their outstanding contribution in the field of electrochemical catalysis and electrosynthesis.

1-bromo-2-methylnaphthalene↗

Using Machine Learning Algorithm to Detect Blowing Snow and Fog in Antarctica Based on Ceilometer and Surface Meteorology Systems

Blowing snow is a common weather phenomenon in Antarctica and plays an important role in the water vapor cycle and ice sheet mass balance. Although it has a significant impact on the climate of Antarctica, people do not know much about this process. Fog events are difficult to distinguish from blowing snow events using existing detection algorithms by a ceilometer. In this study, based on ceilometer, the meteorological parameters observed by surface meteorology systems are further combined to detect blowing snow and fog using the AdaBoost algorithm. The weather phenomena recorded by human observers are ‘true’. The dataset is collected from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 at the AWARE site. Among them, three-quarters of the data are used as the training set and the rest of the data as the testing set. The classification accuracy of the proposed algorithm for the testing set is about 94%. Compared with the Loeb method, the proposed algorithm can detect 89.12% of blowing snow events and 76.10% of fog events, while the Loeb method can only identify 64.29% of blowing snow events and 31.87% of fog events.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Methods for ultraviolet excitation microscopy of biological surfaces

Microscopy with Ultraviolet Surface Excitation (MUSE) for use in the classroom to enhance life sciences education and curricula, or for other applications, including without limtiation the operating room, other medical environments, research environments, and low resource environments. MUSE's suitability is based on multiple key factors including its simplicity of use, the incorporation of inexpensive hardware including LED illumination, and very basic tissue preparation. The ultraviolet excitation acts as passive optical sectioning confining the generated fluorescence signal to only a few micrometers below the tissue surface thus eliminating the out of focus signals. This facilitates image capture of tissue microstructure and organization from specimens at the intact or sliced surface arising from varying fluorophore concentration within the different cellular compartments. Although just the tissue auto fluorescence maybe used, image quality is enhanced with brief application of nontoxic fluorescent dyes to selectively highlight cellular compartments. Sample preparation is safe, efficient and familiar to students with basic chemistry or biology lab experience. Mixed-dye powders may be used to simplify translation of this method for educational, medical, research, low resource, and other settings.

Demos, Stavros G.↗

Probing Oxidation-Driven Amorphized Surfaces in a Ta(110) Film for Superconducting Qubit

Recent advances in superconducting qubit technology have led to significant progress in quantum computing, but the challenge of achieving a long coherence time remains. Despite the excellent lifetime performance that tantalum (Ta) based qubits have demonstrated to date, the majority of superconducting qubit systems, including Ta-based qubits, are generally believed to have uncontrolled surface oxidation as the primary source of the two-level system loss in two-dimensional transmon qubits. Therefore, atomic-scale insight into the surface oxidation process is needed to make progress toward a practical quantum processor. Here, in this study, the surface oxidation mechanism of native Ta films and its potential impact on the lifetime of superconducting qubits were investigated using advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) techniques combined with density functional theory calculations. The results suggest an atomistic model of the oxidized Ta(110) surface, showing that oxygen atoms tend to penetrate the Ta surface and accumulate between the two outermost Ta atomic planes; oxygen accumulation at the level exceeding a 1:1 O/Ta ratio drives disordering and, eventually, the formation of an amorphous Ta 2 O 5 phase. In addition, we discuss how the formation of a noninsulating ordered TaO 1–δ (δ < 0.1) suboxide layer could further contribute to the losses of superconducting qubits. Subsurface oxidation leads to charge redistribution and electric polarization, potentially causing quasiparticle loss and decreased current-carrying capacity, thus affecting superconducting qubit coherence. The findings enhance the comprehension of the realistic factors that might influence the performance of superconducting qubits, thus providing valuable guidance for the development of future quantum computing hardware.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Three Decades of Wetland Methane Surface Flux Modeling by Earth System Models–Advances, Applications, and Challenges

Earth System Models (ESMs) simulate the exchange of mass and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere, with a key focus on modeling natural greenhouse gas feedbacks. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. There are growing concerns over the rapidly increasing methane concentration in the atmosphere, underscoring the need for accurate global modeling of its emissions using ESMs. Of the multitude of sources of methane globally, wetlands are the largest natural emitters for methane, leading to significant efforts targeting their representation in ESMs with a special focus on their methane emissions. In this review, we first provide a historical overview of including wetland–methane components in ESMs and how methane modeling approaches have evolved over time. Second, we discuss recent modeling advancements that show promise for improvements in methane emissions predictions, namely the coupling of surface and atmospheric modules of ESMs, the representation of microtopography and transport mechanisms, the resolution of microbial processes at different spatial–temporal scales, and the improved mapping of wetland area extent across the different wetland types. Third, we shed light on the different challenges hindering accurate estimations of wetland–methane emissions, as shown by the consistent discrepancy between bottom–up and top–down models' predictions. Finally, we emphasize that more detailed representation of biogeochemistry and dynamic hydrology while resolving the within–wetland vegetation heterogeneity should improve model predictions, especially when coupled with expanding ground–based measurement networks and high–resolution remote sensing mapping of methane–relevant variables, such as water elevation, water table depth, and methane concentration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗