Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “cpc”

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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Glycolic-Nitric Acid Flowsheet Demonstration of the DWPF Chemical Processing Cell with Matrix Simulants and Supernate

Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is evaluating changes to its current DWPF flowsheet to improve processing cycle times. This will enable the facility to support higher canister production while maximizing waste loading. Higher throughput is needed in the CPC since the installation of the bubblers into the melter has increased melt rate. Due to the significant maintenance required for the DWPF gas chromatographs (GC) and the potential for production of flammable quantities of hydrogen, reducing or eliminating the amount of formic acid used in the CPC is being developed. Earlier work at Savannah River National Laboratory has shown that replacing formic acid with an 80:20 molar blend of glycolic and formic acids has the potential to remove mercury in the SRAT without any significant catalytic hydrogen generation. This report summarizes the research completed to determine the feasibility of processing without formic acid. In earlier development of the glycolic-formic acid flowsheet, one run (GF8) was completed without formic acid. It is of particular interest that mercury was successfully removed in GF8, no formic acid at 125% stoichiometry. Glycolic acid did not show the ability to reduce mercury to elemental mercury in initial screening studies, which is why previous testing focused on using the formic/glycolic blend. The objective of the testing detailed in this document is to determine the viability of the nitric-glycolic acid flowsheet in processing sludge over a wide compositional range as requested by DWPF. This work was performed under the guidance of Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan (TT and QAP). The details regarding the simulant preparation and analysis have been documented previously.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2012

Glycolic-Nitric Acid Flowsheet Demonstration of the DWPF Chemical Process Cell with Sludge and Supernate Simulants

Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is evaluating changes to its current Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) flowsheet to improve processing cycle times. This will enable the facility to support higher canister production while maximizing waste loading. Higher throughput is needed in the Chemical Process Cell (CPC) since the installation of the bubblers into the melter has increased melt rate. Due to the significant maintenance required for the DWPF gas chromatographs (GC) and the potential for production of flammable quantities of hydrogen, reducing or eliminating the amount of formic acid used in the CPC is being developed. Earlier work at Savannah River National Laboratory has shown that replacing formic acid with an 80:20 molar blend of glycolic and formic acids has the potential to remove mercury in the SRAT without any significant catalytic hydrogen generation. This report summarizes the research completed to determine the feasibility of processing without formic acid. In earlier development of the glycolic-formic acid flowsheet, one run (GF8) was completed without formic acid. It is of particular interest that mercury was successfully removed in GF8, no formic acid at 125% stoichiometry. Glycolic acid did not show the ability to reduce mercury to elemental mercury in initial screening studies, which is why previous testing focused on using the formic/glycolic blend. The objective of the testing detailed in this document is to determine the viability of the nitric-glycolic acid flowsheet in processing sludge over a wide compositional range as requested by DWPF. This work was performed under the guidance of Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan (TT&QAP). The details regarding the simulant preparation and analysis have been documented previously.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2019

Historical Scaling Performance from Laboratory to Full Scale for The Defense Waste Processing Facility's Chemical Process Cell

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is planning to modify the chemical processing flowsheet by replacing formic acid with glycolic acid in the Chemical Process Cell (CPC) Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) and Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME). The replacement of formic acid with glycolic acid virtually eliminates the CPC’s largest flammability hazards, catalytic hydrogen and ammonia.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS2013

The North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME): Phase-1 Seasonal to Interannual Prediction, Phase-2 Toward Developing Intra-Seasonal Prediction

The recent US National Academies report "Assessment of Intraseasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction and Predictability" was unequivocal in recommending the need for the development of a North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) operational predictive capability. Indeed, this effort is required to meet the specific tailored regional prediction and decision support needs of a large community of climate information users. The multi-model ensemble approach has proven extremely effective at quantifying prediction uncertainty due to uncertainty in model formulation, and has proven to produce better prediction quality (on average) then any single model ensemble. This multi-model approach is the basis for several international collaborative prediction research efforts, an operational European system and there are numerous examples of how this multi-model ensemble approach yields superior forecasts compared to any single model. Based on two NOAA Climate Test Bed (CTB) NMME workshops (February 18, and April 8, 2011) a collaborative and coordinated implementation strategy for a NMME prediction system has been developed and is currently delivering real-time seasonal-to-interannual predictions on the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) operational schedule. The hindcast and real-time prediction data is readily available (e.g., http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/SOURCES/.Models/.NMME/) and in graphical format from CPC (http://origin.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/wd51yf/NMME/index.html). Moreover, the NMME forecast are already currently being used as guidance for operational forecasters. This paper describes the new NMME effort, presents an overview of the multi-model forecast quality, and the complementary skill associated with individual models.

NOAA CPC↗
DOE OSTI2013

CPsuperH2.3: an Updated Tool for Phenomenology in the MSSM with Explicit CP Violation

We describe the Fortran code CPsuperH2.3, which incorporates the following updates compared with its predecessor CPsuperH2.0. It implements improved calculations of the Higgs-boson masses and mixing including stau contributions and finite threshold effects on the tau-lepton Yukawa coupling. It incorporates the LEP limits on the processes e^+e^-->H_iZ,H_iH_j and the CMS limits on H_i->@t@?@t obtained from 4.6 fb^-^1 of data at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. It also includes the decay mode H_i->Z@c and the Schiff-moment contributions to the electric dipole moments of Mercury and Radium 225, with several calculational options for the case of Mercury. These additions make CPsuperH2.3 a suitable tool for analyzing possible CP-violating effects in the MSSM in the era of the LHC and a new generation of EDM experiments. Program summary: Program title: CPsuperH2.3 Catalogue identifier: ADSR_v3_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADSR_v3_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 24058 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 158721 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Fortran77. Computer: PC running under Linux and computers in Unix environment. Operating system: Linux. RAM: 32 MB Classification: 11.1. Does the new version supersede the previous version?: Yes Catalogue identifier of previous version: ADSR_v2_0 Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 180(2009)312 Nature of problem: The calculations of mass spectrum, decay widths and branching ratios of the neutral and charged Higgs bosons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with explicit CP violation have been improved. The program is based on renormalization-group-improved diagrammatic calculations that include dominant higher-order logarithmic and threshold corrections, b-quark and @t-lepton Yukawa-coupling resummation effects and improved treatment of Higgs-boson pole-mass shifts. The couplings of the Higgs bosons to the Standard Model gauge bosons and fermions, to their supersymmetric partners and all the trilinear and quartic Higgs-boson self-couplings are also calculated. Also included are a full treatment of the 4x4 (2x2) neutral (charged) Higgs propagator matrix together with the center-of-mass dependent Higgs-boson couplings to gluons and photons, and an integrated treatment of several B-meson observables. The new implementations include the EDMs of Thallium, neutron, Mercury, Deuteron, Radium, and muon, as well as the anomalous magnetic moment of muon, (g_@m-2), the top-quark decays, improved calculations of the Higgs-boson masses and mixing including stau contributions, the LEP limits, and the CMS limits on H_i->@t@t@?. It also implements the decay mode H_i->Z@c and includes the corresponding Standard Model branching ratios of the three neutral Higgs bosons in the array GAMBRN(IM,IWB = 2,IH). Solution method: One-dimensional numerical integration for several Higgs-decay modes and EDMs, iterative treatment of the threshold corrections and Higgs-boson pole masses, and the numerical diagonalization of the neutralino mass matrix. Reasons for new version: Mainly to provide the full calculations of the EDMs of Thallium, neutron, Mercury, Deuteron, Radium, and muon as well as (g_@m-2), improved calculations of the Higgs-boson masses and mixing including stau contributions, the LEP limits, the CMS limits on H_i->@t@t@?, the top-quark decays, H_i->Z@c decay, and the corresponding Standard Model branching ratios of the three neutral Higgs bosons. Summary of revisions: Full calculations of the EDMs of Thallium, neutron, Mercury, Deuteron, Radium, and muon as well as (g_@m-2). Improved treatment of Higgs-boson masses and mixing including stau contributions. The LEP limits. The CMS limits on H_i->@t@t@?. The top-quark decays. The H_i->Z@c decay. The corresponding Standard Model branching ratios of the three neutral Higgs bosons. Running time: Less than 1.0 s.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Carbon polyaniline capacitive deionization electrodes with stable cycle life

Electrode materials for capacitive deionization (CDI), an energy efficient method for desalination, were developed in this work. Waste-tire derived carbon (TC) coated with polyaniline was used to form a carbon polymer composite (CPC). CPC was used as an electrode in CDI configurations to determine the salt adsorption capability of the material. Chemical treatment of TC with KOH led to an enhancement in surface area to 952 m 2 /g and microporosity in the sub-2-nm range. This unique microstructure is considered to be beneficial for effective ion uptake in CDI applications. The capacitance of the electrodes was further enhanced through surface coating with polyaniline, resulting in a specific capacitance of 168.2 F/g. In batch cell testing with 1.2 V applied potential, the salt adsorption capacity (SAC), measured in mg of salt adsorbed per gram of active material, in a 1500–1700 ppm KCl solution was measured at 14.2 mg/g. Scale-up of the process with ionic-membrane-assisted CDI (MCDI) led to improvement in SAC at 18.9 mg/g. Further, cycling tests revealed that the electrodes had comparable or better longevity compared to other CDI materials, retaining >92.8% charging capacity after 300 cycles. In conclusion, high adsorption capacities for other salts such as LiCl, NaCl, MgCl 2 and CaCl 2 have been found.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

A fast integrated mobility spectrometer for rapid measurement of sub-micrometer aerosol size distribution, Part II: Experimental characterization

A Fast Integrated Mobility Spectrometer (FIMS) with a wide dynamic size range has been developed for rapid aerosol size distribution measurements. The design and model evaluation of the FIMS are presented in the preceding paper (Paper I), and this paper focuses on the experimental characterization of the FIMS. Monodisperse aerosol with diameter ranging from 8 to 600 nm was generated using Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA), and was measured by the FIMS in parallel with a Condensation Particle Counter (CPC). The mean particle diameter measured by the FIMS is in good agreement with the DMA centroid diameter. Comparison of the particle concentrations measured by the FIMS and CPC indicates the FIMS detection efficiency is essentially 100% for particles with diameters of 8 nm or larger. For particles smaller than 20 nm or larger than 200 nm, FIMS transfer function and resolution can be well represented by the calculated ones based on simulated particle trajectories in the FIMS. For particles between 20 and 200 nm, the FIMS transfer function is boarder than the calculated, likely due to non-ideality of the electric field, including edge effects near the end of the electrode, which are not represented by the 2-D electric field used to simulate particle trajectories.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of assumptions made by Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer inversion routines

The Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (H-TDMA) measures the hygroscopicity of atmospheric particles, and many atmospheric processes that change this hygroscopicity also change the atmospheric size distribution. Two assumptions made during H-TDMA inversion create spurious hygroscopic trends as a function of the changing inlet size distribution. These two assumptions—that the particles exiting the first Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA1) are singly charged and that the inlet size distribution has a slope of zero (flat)— generate Multi-Charge Dispersion (MCD) bias and Slope bias, respectively. First, we use a model, named TAO, to show that the inlet size distribution could theoretically change the measured ammonium sulfate hygroscopicity by 10%–20% as a function of diameter or experimental time with no change in relative humidity. Secondly, we show experimentally that aerosol emitted from the flaming combustion of grass creates MCD bias. Here, in this experiment, we measure the CPC response of the first three charges and invert these responses using a new routine named Junior. Junior's inversion of each charge shows that one growth factor distribution describes all measured diameters (no growth dependence on diameter). As in the modeling study above, previous publications of this aerosol system, using traditional inversion assumptions, report a decrease in hygroscopicity as DMA1 diameter increases. Unlike traditional inversions, Junior's inversion does not assume the particles are singly charged nor does it make the flat inlet size distribution assumption. Instead, both the inlet size distribution and each charge's CPC response are measured quantities. Thus, the discrepancy between our inversion results and previous publications is likely due to the traditional inversion routine assumptions. This underscores the importance for accounting for Slope and MCD bias during inversions. Experimental results should be carefully analyzed when reporting hygroscopic trends with respect to diameter or experimental time when using the traditional inversion assumptions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2010

Feasibility and optical performance of one axis three positions sun-tracking polar-axis aligned CPCs for photovoltaic applications

A new design concept, called one axis three positions sun-tracking polar-axis aligned CPCs (3P-CPCs, in short), was proposed and theoretically studied in this work for photovoltaic applications. The proposed trough-like CPC is oriented in the polar-axis direction, and the aperture is daily adjusted eastward, southward, and westward in the morning, noon and afternoon, respectively, by rotating the CPC trough, to ensure efficient collection of beam radiation nearly all day. To investigate the optical performance of such CPCs, an analytical mathematical procedure is developed to estimate daily and annual solar gain captured by such CPCs based on extraterrestrial radiation and monthly horizontal radiation. Results show that the acceptance half-angle of 3P-CPCs is a unique parameter to determine their optical performance according to extraterrestrial radiation, and the annual solar gain stays constant if the acceptance half-angle, {theta}{sub a}, is less than one third of {omega}{sub 0,min}, the sunset hour angle in the winter solstice, otherwise decreases with the increase of {theta}{sub a}. For 3P-CPCs used in China, the annual solar gain, depending on the climatic conditions in site, decreased with the acceptance half-angle, but such decrease was slow for the case of {theta}{sub a}{<=}{omega}{sub 0,min}/3, indicating that the acceptance half-angle should be less than one third of {omega}{sub 0,min} for maximizing annual energy collection. Compared to fixed east-west aligned CPCs (EW-CPCs) with a yearly optimal acceptance half-angle, the fixed south-facing polar-axis aligned CPCs (1P-CPCs) with the same acceptance half-angle as the EW-CPCs annually collected about 65-74% of that EW-CPCs did, whereas 3P-CPCs annually collected 1.26-1.45 times of that EW-CPCs collected, indicating that 3P-CPCs were more efficient for concentrating solar radiation onto their coupling solar cells. (author)

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of historical CMIP6 model simulations of extreme precipitation over contiguous US regions

Simulated historical precipitation is evaluated for Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models using precipitation indices defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices. The model indices are evaluated against corresponding indices from the CPC unified gauge-based analyses of precipitation over seven geographical regions across the contiguous US (CONUS). The regions assessed match those in recent US National Climate Assessment Reports. To estimate observational uncertainty, precipitation indices for three other observational datasets (HadEx2, Livneh and PRISM) are evaluated against the CPC analyses. Both the moderate and extreme mean precipitation intensities are overestimated over the western CONUS and underestimated in the areas of the Central Great Plains (CGP) in most CMIP6 models tested. Most CMIP6 models overestimate the mean and variability of wet spell durations and underestimate the mean and variability of dry spell durations across the CONUS. Biases in interannual variability of most of the indices have similar patterns to those in corresponding mean biases. The median and interquartile model spreads in CMIP6 model biases are clearly smaller than those in CMIP5 model biases for wet spell durations. Multimodel medians of CMIP6 (CMIP6-MMM) and CMIP5 (CMIP5-MMM) have similar biases in climatology and variability but biases tend to be smaller in CMIP6-MMM. Depending on the index, extreme precipitation is slightly better in parts of the eastern half of the CONUS in CMIP6-MMM, otherwise, the biases in climatology and variability are similar to CMIP5-MMM. CMIP6-MMM performs better than individual models and even observational datasets in some cases. Differences between observational datasets for most indices are comparable to the CMIP6 interquartile model spread. The better-performing observational and model datasets are different in different parts of the CONUS.

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

Identifying Green Solvent Mixtures for Bioproduct Separation Using Bayesian Experimental Design

Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) is a widely used technique for the separation and purification of liquid-phase products with applications in various industries, including pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and renewable chemistry. A critical step in the design of an LLE process is the selection of appropriate solvents. This study presents a new methodology for identifying solvent mixtures for bioproduct separation using Bayesian experimental design (BED). Motivated by the need for environmentally friendly and effective separation methods, we address the challenge of selecting solvent systems that balance separation efficiency, selectivity, and environmental impact while also tackling the difficulty of separating multiple bioproducts using complex solvent systems. Our approach specifically seeks to predict product partition coefficients (log10 Kp values) as thermodynamic parameters underlying solvent selection. The iterative approach integrates Bayesian optimization with experimental measurements to guide solvent selection and leverages COSMO-RS simulations to enhance high-throughput experimentation. Using the design of solvent systems for the separation of lignin-derived aromatic products via centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) as a case study, we show that within seven iterations/cycles of the methodology, we can identify new mixtures of green solvents that align with CPC design principles. Furthermore, these results demonstrate the efficacy of the BED framework in optimizing green solvent systems for complex separations, highlighting the potential of this method to advance the field of green chemistry and contribute to the development of sustainable industrial processes.

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

Charge transfer rate constants for the carotenoid-porphyrin-C 60 molecular triad dissolved in tetrahydrofuran: The spin-boson model vs the linearized semiclassical approximation

Charge transfer rate constants were calculated for the carotenoid-porphyrin-C 60 (CPC 60 ) molecular triad dissolved in explicit tetrahydrofuran. The calculation was based on mapping the all-atom anharmonic Hamiltonian of this system onto the spin-boson Hamiltonian. The mapping was based on discretizing the spectral density from the time correlation function of the donor–acceptor potential energy gap, as obtained from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Different spin-boson Hamiltonians were constructed for each of the possible transitions between the three excited electronic states in two different triad conformations. The rate constants of three possible transitions were calculated via the quantum-mechanically exact Fermi’s golden rule (FGR), as well as a progression of more approximate expressions that lead to the classical Marcus expression. The advantage of the spin-boson approach is that once the mapping is established, the quantum-mechanically exact FGR and the hierarchy of approximations are known in closed form. The classical Marcus charge transfer rate constants obtained with the spin-boson Hamiltonians were found to reproduce those obtained from all-atom simulations with the linearized semiclassical approximation, thereby confirming the equivalence of the two approaches for this system. Furthermore, within the spin-boson Hamiltonian, we also found that the quantum-mechanically exact FGR rate constants were significantly enhanced compared to the classical Marcus theory rate constants for two out of three transitions in one of the two conformations under consideration. The results confirm that mapping to the spin-boson model can yield accurate predictions for charge transfer rate constants in a system as complex as CPC 60 dissolved in tetrahydrofuran.

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

Development of a bright MeV photon source with compound parabolic concentrator targets on the National Ignition Facility Advanced Radiographic Capability (NIF-ARC) laser

Compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) targets are utilized at the National Ignition Facility Advanced Radiographic Capability (NIF-ARC) laser to enhance the acceleration of electrons and production of high energy photons, for laser durations of 10 ps and energies up to 2.4 kJ. A large enhancement of mean electron energy (>2 ×) and photon brightness (>10×) is found with CPC targets compared to flat targets. Using multiple diagnostic techniques at different spatial locations and scaling by gold activation spatial data, photon spectra are characterized for E photon = 0.5-30 MeV. Beam width and pointing variations are given. The efficient production of MeV photons at I laser ≈ 2 x 10 18 W/cm 2 with CPCs is observed, with doses of >10 rad in air at 1 m for E photon > 0.5 MeV; these exceed those previously reported with laser-driven sources. Using this source, sub-mm resolution radiographs are generated through large areal density radiograph objects. Hence these results are promising for the development of bright MeV x-ray and particle sources on Petawatt class laser systems.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Proton beam enhancements from ultrafast laser interactions with compound parabolic concentrators

Target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) is among the most widely studied laser–plasma ion acceleration mechanisms. In this Letter, we report on studies of proton acceleration from flat Cu targets with cone-like focusing structures called compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) coupled to their front surface. The CPC acts as a non-imaging focusing optic that enhances the laser intensity at the target's front surface by ∼2×, from 9 × 10 18 to 2 × 10 19 W/cm 2 . This effect drives a reduction in the particle source size from the typical laser spot size of 120 μm to the CPC tip size of 65 μm and significant enhancements in the peak energy and temperature (2.6 × increase) of the resulting TNSA proton beam. We also observe increased opening angle of the beam. 2D PIC simulations have been conducted and replicate the experimental behavior. These increases have implications for long focal length facilities that require higher energy proton beams, which now can be achieved without significant infrastructure changes.

3D printing↗
DOE OSTI2012

Kinetics of heterogeneous nucleation in supersaturated vapor: Fundamental limits to neutral particle detection revisited

We examine the nucleated (with barrier) activation of perfectly wetting (zero contact angle) particles ranging from essentially bulk size down to approximately 1-nm mass diameter. While similar studies trace back to the pioneering work of Fletcher, we present here a novel approach to the analysis based on general area constructions that enable key thermodynamic properties, including surface and bulk contributions to nucleation work, to be interpreted geometrically with reference to the Kelvin curve. The kinetics of activation are described in more detail in terms of the mean first passage time (MFPT) for barrier crossing. MFPT theory and benchmark calculations are used to develop and test a new approximate-but-simpler-to-use analytic expression for the barrier crossing rate. The present study is motivated by recent condensation particle counter (CPC) studies that appear to finally establish the long-predicted detection of 'sub-Kelvin' particles in the nano-size regime. Corresponding states thermodynamic and kinetic scaling approaches are used to facilitate the correlation and selection of optimal CPC working fluids and operating conditions based on a new metric for heterogeneous nucleation, the signal-to-noise ratio, and physical and chemical properties.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Controllable corrosion-assisted fabrication of Au–Ag alloyed hollow nanocrystals for highly efficient and environmentally-stable SERS substrates

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates with both high activity and long term chemical-stability have been expected in the practical application of the SERS-based detection. In this paper, Au–Ag bimetal nanocrystals are fabricated based on the template-etching reaction in the Ag nanocubes-contained cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) aqueous solution via adding the HAuCl 4 solution. The obtained nanocrystals are Au–Ag alloyed and hollow in structure. Further, it has been found that with the increasing Au/Ag molar ratio, the shape of the alloyed nanocrystals evolve from the truncated nanocubes to the hollow boxes and then nanocages, showing the ever red-shifting surface plasmon resonance from the visible to the infrared region. The formation of the alloyed hollow nanocrystals is attributed to the preferential dissolution of the Ag nanocubes induced by CPC selective adsorption and the three to one galvanic replacement reaction between Ag and Au atoms. Importantly, such Au–Ag alloyed hollow nanocrystals, especially the ones with a low Au/Ag atomic ratio, show both high SERS activity and long term environmental stability compared with pure Ag or Au nanocrystals, and are the ideal candidate for the SERS substrate with practical application value. As a result, this work not only demonstrates the nanofabrication route to the alloyed hollow nanocrystals with controllable shapes and tunable optical properties in a large region, but also presents highly active and chemically-stable SERS substrates for the practical SERS-based detection.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗