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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 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Distinct Surface and Bulk Thermal Behaviors of LiNi 0.6 Mn 0.2 Co 0.2 O 2 Cathode Materials as a Function of State of Charge

Understanding how structural and chemical transformations take place in particles under thermal conditions can inform designing thermally robust electrode materials. Such a study necessitates the use of diagnostic techniques that are capable of probing the transformations at multiple length scales and at different states of charge (SOC). In this study, the thermal behavior ofLiNi 0.6 Mn 0.2 Co 0.2 O 2 (NMC-622) was examined as a function of SOC, using an array of bulk and surface-sensitive techniques. In general, thermal stability decreases as lithium content is lowered and conversion in the bulk to progressively reduced metal oxides (spinels, rock salt) occurs as the temperature is raised. Hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray Raman spectroscopy (XRS) experiments, which probe the bulk, reveal that Ni and Co are eventually reduced when partially delithiated samples (regardless of the SOC) are heated, although Mn is not. Surface-sensitive synchrotron techniques, such as soft XAS and transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM), however, reveal that for 50% delithiated samples, apparent oxidation of nickel occurs at particle surfaces under some circumstances. This is partially compensated by reduction of cobalt but may also be a consequence of redistribution of lithium ions upon heating. TXM results indicate the movement of reduced nickel ions into particle interiors or oxidized nickel ions to the surface or both. These experiments illustrate the complexity of the thermal behavior of NMC cathode materials. The study also informs the importance of investigating the surface and bulk difference as a function of SOC when studying the thermal behaviors of battery materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Mapping the 3D position of battery cathode particles in Bragg coherent diffractive imaging

In Bragg coherent diffractive imaging, the precise location of the measured crystals in the interior of the sample is usually missing. Obtaining this information would help the study of the spatially dependent behavior of particles in the bulk of inhomogeneous samples, such as extra-thick battery cathodes. This work presents an approach to determine the 3D position of particles by precisely aligning them at the instrument axis of rotation. In the test experiment reported here, with a 60 µm-thick LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 battery cathode, the particles were located with a precision of 20 µm in the out-of-plane direction, and the in-plane coordinates were determined with a precision of 1 µm.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Catalytic Activity and Stability of Non-Platinum Group Metal Oxides for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers

The activities and stabilities of non-platinum group metals (PGMs) in the forms of monometallic (Mn 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , Co 3 O 4 , NiO) and bimetallic (NiFe 2 O 4 , CoNiO 2 ) oxides were assessed for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media and compared with IrO 2 . Both half-cell, rotating disc electrode (RDE) apparatus and single-cell, membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) were used to study kinetic and device-level performance in parallel and to provide insights into the use of these materials in anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers. Normalization of RDE results by geometric and physical surface areas, double layer capacitance, and metal content probed differences in physically vs electrochemically accessible surface areas and ensured reported trends were independent of the normalization method. The results showed that: (i) Ni- and Co- containing materials met or exceeded IrO 2 performance in both RDE and MEA testing, (ii) Co 3 O 4 deactivated over time-on-stream (1.8 V for 13.5 h) due to oxide and, relatedly, particle growth, (iii) NiFe 2 O 4 increased in activity over time-on-stream due to dissolution of Fe and an increased Ni/Fe ratio, and (iv) reduction of catalyst layer resistance is an avenue to further increase device-level performance. These results demonstrated the clear viability for non-PGMs to be used as anode catalysts in AEM devices.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Bess-Polar II Long Duration Flight Above Antarctica

The Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer, BESS, has been developed to study elementary particle phenomena in the early universe through measurements of low energy antiprotons to investigate their origin and through a search for antihelium. The BESS collaboration carried out nine northern latitude flights between 1993 and 2002. BESS-Polar is an advanced program of the BESS collaboration to study these topics with much greater precision using long duration flights above Antarctica. The BESS-Polar spectrometer was successfully developed to accumulate much larger numbers of events during long duration flights around the South Pole. Approximately a factor of four reductions in the amount of material in the particle beam enables measurement of much lower energy antiprotons down to 100 MeV (at top of atmosphere). The first BESS-Polar flight (BESS-Polar I) of 8.5 days was carried out above Antarctica in December 2004. recording 900 million cosmic-ray events. The second BESS-Polar flight (BESS-Polar 11) was successfully carried out in the austral summer season of 2007-2008. Based on experience with BESS-Polar I, the spectrometer was improved in performance and achieved long term stability during the flight. A newly constructed magnet with a larger liquid He capacity and improved thermal insulation and an upgraded data storage system with larger capacity of hard disk drives (HDDs) enabled longer observation time. BESS-Polar II was launched on December 22, 2007 from Williams Field, McMurdo Station, in Antarctica. The spectrometer worked properly and observed cosmic rays for about 24.5 days at float altitude, recording 4.6 billion events on the HDDs until the limit of the magnet operation was reached on January 16, 2008. The flight was terminated and the spectrometer was safely landed on the West Antarctic ice sheet (1000 km from the South Pole) on January 21, 2008. Here, the BESS-Polar instrument is discussed, highlighting improvements made for BESS-Polar II, and overviews of the flight and performance are reported.

Sasaki, Makoto↗
DOE OSTI2023

Microwave-enhanced methane cracking for clean hydrogen production in shale rocks

Here, steam methane reforming (SMR) generates about 95% of hydrogen (H 2 ) in the U.S. using natural gas as a main feedstock. However, this technology also generates a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a major greenhouse gas causing global warming. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technique is required, but the cost and safety of storing CO 2 underground are a concern. Here we propose a new approach using microwave/electromagnetic irradiation to produce clean hydrogen from unrecovered hydrocarbons within petroleum reservoirs. Solid carbon or CO 2 produced during this process will be simultaneously sequestrated underground without involving CCS. In this paper, we perform a series of experiments to investigate the in-situ hydrogen production from shale gas (methane) conversion by passing a methane stream through a packed shale rock sample heated by microwave. We found that methane conversion was significantly enhanced in the presence of Fe and Fe 3 O 4 particles as catalysts, with a conversion of 40.5% and 100% at reaction temperature of 500 °C and 600 °C, respectively. Methane conversion is promoted at a lower reaction temperature by the catalytic effect of minerals in shale. Additionally, the influences of catalysts, shale rock, and methane flow rate are characterized.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mitigating X-ray-induced damage for accurate analysis of battery cathodes using transmission X-ray microscopy

Here, we investigate the impact of X-ray-induced damage on the evolution of battery cathodes using synchrotron transmission X-ray microscopy. In an operando coin cell, exposure to the X-ray beam can induce bubble formation, potentially rendering cathode particles electrochemically inactive and displacing particles from their initial position. However, utilizing external pressure on a pouch cell can mitigate bubble formation and its associated effects.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

In-situ visualization of the transition metal dissolution in layered cathodes

Transition metal dissolution in layered cathodes is one of the most intractable issues that deteriorates the battery performance and lifetime. It not only aggravates the structure degradation in cathode, but also damages the solid electrolyte interphase in anode and even induce the formation of lithium dendrites. In this work, we investigate the dissolution behaviors of polycrystalline and single-crystalline layered cathode via operando X-ray imaging techniques. The described cathode particle morphology appears to have a significant impact on the evolution of the dissolution dynamics. As a mitigation strategy, we reveal that doping with trace amount of Zr in the layered cathode could improve its robustness against the transition metal dissolution. Our finding provides valuable insights for designing the next-generation highly-stable layered battery cathodes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Determining the Length Scale of Transport Impedances in Li-Ion Electrodes: Li(Ni 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 )O 2

Battery cathodes are complex multiscale, multifunctional materials. The length scale at which the dominant impedance arises may be difficult to determine even with the most advanced experimental characterization efforts, and thus modeling can play an important role in analysis. Discharge and voltage relaxation curves, interrogated with theory, are used to distinguish between transport impedance that arise on the scale of the active crystal and on the scale of agglomerates (secondary particles) comprised of nanoscale crystals. Model-selection algorithms are applied to determine that the agglomerate scale is dominant in the Li Ni 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 O 2 electrode studied here. Furthermore, conditions where the agglomerate and crystal-scale models yield distinct simulation results are demonstrated, providing approaches that can be applied to other systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Searching for the Most Harmful Field Errors in the HSR IR Superconducting Magnets

In this project, we improve beam stability for the Electron-Ion Collider. Magnetic field errors can reduce beam stability, making it essential to identify the field errors that have the greatest impact on accelerator performance. However, this is particularly challenging because beam stability depends on the complex interactions of many magnetic field errors, resulting in a high-dimensional and nonlinear optimization problem. We determine which field errors are the most influential for the large physical aperture superconducting magnet B2PF, a critical magnet in the Interaction Region (IR) in the Hadron Storage Ring (HSR). We complete and analyze nearly 30,000 simulations on the Brookhaven National Laboratory Linux Cluster by varying 18 nonlinear magnetic field errors. We evaluate beam stability using the dynamic aperture and the tune diffusion. We identify the field errors that most strongly influence beam stability and establish quantitative field error tolerances that improve accelerator performance.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Model-Based Diagnostics for Propellant Loading Systems

The loading of spacecraft propellants is a complex, risky operation. Therefore, diagnostic solutions are necessary to quickly identify when a fault occurs, so that recovery actions can be taken or an abort procedure can be initiated. Model-based diagnosis solutions, established using an in-depth analysis and understanding of the underlying physical processes, offer the advanced capability to quickly detect and isolate faults, identify their severity, and predict their effects on system performance. We develop a physics-based model of a cryogenic propellant loading system, which describes the complex dynamics of liquid hydrogen filling from a storage tank to an external vehicle tank, as well as the influence of different faults on this process. The model takes into account the main physical processes such as highly nonequilibrium condensation and evaporation of the hydrogen vapor, pressurization, and also the dynamics of liquid hydrogen and vapor flows inside the system in the presence of helium gas. Since the model incorporates multiple faults in the system, it provides a suitable framework for model-based diagnostics and prognostics algorithms. Using this model, we analyze the effects of faults on the system, derive symbolic fault signatures for the purposes of fault isolation, and perform fault identification using a particle filter approach. We demonstrate the detection, isolation, and identification of a number of faults using simulation-based experiments.

Daigle, Matthew John↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantifying electron transport in aggregated colloidal suspensions in the strong flow regime

Electron transport in complex fluids, biology, and soft matter is a valuable characteristic in processes ranging from redox reactions to electrochemical energy storage. These processes often employ conductor–insulator composites in which electron transport properties are fundamentally linked to the microstructure and dynamics of the conductive phase. While microstructure and dynamics are well recognized as key determinants of the electrical properties, a unified description of their effect has yet to be determined, especially under flowing conditions. In this work, the conductivity and shear viscosity are measured for conductive colloidal suspensions to build a unified description by exploiting both recent quantification of the effect of flow-induced dynamics on electron transport and well-established relationships between electrical properties, microstructure, and flow. These model suspensions consist of conductive carbon black (CB) particles dispersed in fluids of varying viscosities and dielectric constants. In a stable, well-characterized shear rate regime where all suspensions undergo self-similar agglomerate breakup, competing relationships between conductivity and shear rate were observed. To account for the role of variable agglomerate size, equivalent microstructural states were identified using a dimensionless fluid Mason number, Mn f , which allowed for isolation of the role of dynamics on the flow-induced electron transport rate. At equivalent microstructural states, shear-enhanced particle–particle collisions are found to dominate the electron transport rate. This work rationalizes seemingly contradictory experimental observations in literature concerning the shear-dependent electrical properties of CB suspensions and can be extended to other flowing composite systems.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Snowmass 2021 Computational Frontier CompF4 Topical Group Report Storage and Processing Resource Access

Computing plays a significant role in all areas of high energy physics. The Snowmass 2021 CompF4 topical group's scope is facilities R&D, where we consider "facilities" as the computing hardware and software infrastructure inside the data centers plus the networking between data centers, irrespective of who owns them, and what policies are applied for using them. In other words, it includes commercial clouds, federally funded High Performance Computing (HPC) systems for all of science, and systems funded explicitly for a given experimental or theoretical program. This topical group report summarizes the findings and recommendations for the storage, processing, networking and associated software service infrastructures for future high energy physics research, based on the discussions organized through the Snowmass 2021 community study.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electron Cooling Experiment for Proton Beams with Intense Space-Charge in IOTA

Electron cooling as a method of creating intense ion beams has a practical upper limit when it comes to the peak phase space density of ion beams which can be achieved in practice. We describe a new experiment to study electron cooling of 2.5 MeV protons at the intensity limit using the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA), which is a storage ring dedicated to beam physics research at Fermilab. This system will enable the study of magnetized electron cooling of a proton beam with transverse incoherent tune shifts approaching -0.5 due to the presence of intense space-charge forces. We present an overview of the hardware design, simulations and specific experiments planned for this project.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modelling Beam Loss Within the LANSCE Proton Storage Ring

Several upgrades are being considered for the proton storage ring (PSR) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) to reduce beam loss and thereby reduce the cooldown period of the PSR following a beam run. First, we have considered an increased beam pipe diameter would reduce beam loss due to beam scraping caused by misalignments and tuning errors. However, this would require increased pole-to-pole gap height within the dipoles and quadrupoles, which would change their effective length and alter their fringe fields. The effect of different magnet gaps on the beam optical parameters and on beam loss was studied using the simulation codes MAD-X and PyORBIT. Second, we are developing a detailed particle tracking model within the framework of the simulation package General Particle Tracer (GPT) for the PSR H - stripping system. This model will be used to study the effect of the stripper foil parameters (position, composition, areal density, depth, etc.) on first-turn losses, where most of the observed beam loss and emittance growth occurs due to foil scattering, foil stripping, and Lorentz stripping. The model implements C++ custom elements created to model foil scattering, foil stripping, and Lorentz stripping, as these are not built-in features of GPT. The preliminary results of the MAD-X and PyORBIT simulations, as well as the GPT simulation model, is described in this tech note.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Understanding the Reactivity of a Thin Li 1.5 Al 0.5 Ge 1.5 (PO 4 ) 3 Solid–State Electrolyte toward Metallic Lithium Anode

The thickness of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) significantly affects the energy density and safety performance of all-solid-state lithium batteries. However, a sufficient understanding of the reactivity toward lithium metal of ultrathin SSEs (<100 μm) based on NASICON remains lacking. Herein, for the first time, a self-standing and ultrathin (70 μm) NASICON-type Li 1.5 Al 0.5 Ge 1.5 (PO 4 ) 3 (LAGP) electrolyte via a scalable solution process is developed, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that changes in LAGP at the metastable Li-LAGP interface during battery operation is temperature dependent. Severe germanium reduction and decrease in LAGP particle size are detected at the Li-LAGP interface at elevated temperature. As a result, oriented plating of lithium metal on its preferred (110) face occurs during in situ X-ray diffraction cycling.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Structural and chemical evolutions of a magnesium vanadium oxide cathode under electrochemical cycling in magnesium batteries

The design of cathode materials that remain chemically and structurally stable during repetitive ion insertion and extraction poses a significant challenge in developing multivalent batteries. The cycling stability of traditional metal oxide-based cathode is challenged by sluggish diffusion of multivalent cations and parasitic reactivity at interfacial regimes, including the cathode electrolyte interphase layer (CEI). Understanding the reactions at the cathode-electrolyte interface, particularly those induced by non-stoichiometric surface layers, is a crucial design parameter for both cathode materials and electrolytes. Here, in this study, we employed multimodal analysis, including in situ and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to examine the surface reactions and subsequent structural and chemical evolutions of the CEI on high voltage magnesium vanadium oxide (MgV 2 O 4 ) spinel cathode during the Mg 2+ insertion/extraction processes. The results revealed that the presence of non-stoichiometric surface layers in the magnesium vanadium oxide cathode drive the decomposition of bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI - ) anion, leading to the formation of the CEI layer. The CEI layer could inhibit the Mg 2+ ion transfer processes. Accompanying this reactivity-driven degradation, the magnesium vanadium oxide cathode undergoes pulverization, forming clusters of nanosized particles. This process likely improves cycling ability by creating new intercalation sites and shortening the diffusion pathway for the Mg 2+ cations. This study demonstrates that controlling surface stoichiometry and engineering morphological properties are critical design parameters for high performance cathodes for multivalent batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Stabilizing NMC 811 Li-Ion Battery Cathode through a Rapid Coprecipitation Process

Improving the capacity of LiNi x Mn y Co 1-x-y O 2 (NMC) by increasing the Ni content results in materials with poor cycling performance and reduced thermal stability. These problems can be alleviated by creating concentration gradients in the materials, but this requires more expensive batch processing. Herein, a simple process is described that can create a coating that penetrates into the precursor particles, creating unique gradients in the precursor material. The coated material demonstrates improved cycling performance and thermal stability as compared to uncoated materials. Additionally, rapid heating to simulate a thermal runaway event while observing these materials with X-rays gives a deeper understanding of how the coating affects the decomposition process.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Electron Cooling With Space-Charge Dominated Proton Beams at IOTA

We describe a new electron cooler being developed for 2.5 MeV protons at the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA), which is a highly re-configurable storage ring at Fermilab. This system would enable the study of magnetized electron cooling in the presence of intense space-charge with transverse tune shifts approaching -0.5 as well as highly non-linear focusing optics in the IOTA ring. We present an overview of the design, simulations and hardware to be used for this project.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗