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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 1,189 records · Page 66
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Preparation of LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} cathode thin films for thin film lithium secondary batteries by a mist CVD process

Highlights: • LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} thin films were prepared by using the mist CVD process. • An aqueous solution of lithium and manganese acetates is used for the precursor solution. • The cell with the LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} thin films exhibited a capacity of about 80 mAh/g. • The cell showed good cycling performance during 10 cycles. - Abstract: LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} cathode thin films for thin film lithium secondary batteries were prepared by using so-called the “mist CVD process”, employing an aqueous solution of lithium acetate and manganese acetate, as the source of Li and Mn, respectively. The aqueous solution of starting materials was ultrasonically atomized to form mist particles, and mists were transferred by nitrogen gas to silica glass substrate to form thin films. FE-SEM observation revealed that thin films obtained by this process were dense and smooth, and thin films with a thickness of about 750 nm were obtained. The electrochemical cell with the thin films obtained by sintering at 700 °C exhibited a capacity of about 80 mAh/g, and the cell showed good cycling performance during 10 cycles.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Study of alkaline carbonate cooling to mitigate Ex-Vessel molten corium accidents

To mitigate adverse effects from molten corium following a reactor pressure vessel failure (RPVF), some new reactor designs employ a core catcher and a sacrificial material (SM), such as ceramic or concrete, to stabilize the molten corium and avoid containment breach. Existing reactors cannot easily be modified to include these SMs but could be modified to allow injectable cooling materials. Current reactor designs are limited to using water to stabilize the corium, but this can create other issues such as reaction of water with the concrete forming hydrogen gas. Here the novel SM proposed is a granular carbonate mineral that can be used in existing light water reactor plants. The granular carbonate will decompose when exposed to heat, inducing an endothermic reaction to quickly solidify the corium in place and producing a mineral oxide and carbon dioxide. Corium spreading is a complex process strongly influenced by coupled chemical reactions, including decay heat from the corium, phase change, and reactions between the concrete containment and available water. A recently completed Sandia National Laboratories laboratory directed research and development (LDRD) project focused on two research areas: experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of the novel SM concept, and modeling activities to determine the potential applications of the concept to actual nuclear plants. Small-scale experiments using lead oxide (PbO) as a surrogate for molten corium demonstrate that the reaction of the SM with molten PbO results in a fast solidification of the melt due to the endothermic carbonate decomposition reaction and the formation of open pore structures in the solidified PbO from CO 2 released during the decomposition. A simplified carbonate decomposition model was developed to predict thermal decomposition of carbonate mineral in contact with corium. This model was incorporated into MELCOR, a severe accident nuclear reactor code. A full-plant MELCOR simulation suggests that by the introduction of SM to the reactor cavity prior to RPVF ex-vessel accident progression, e.g., core-concrete interaction and core spreading on the containment floor, could be delayed by at least 15 h; this may be enough for additional accident management to be implemented to alleviate the situation.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Mechanochemical Nonhydrolytic Sol–Gel-Strategy for the Production of Mesoporous Multimetallic Oxides

Mesoporous metal oxides with wide pore size, high surface area, and uniform porous structures have demonstrated excellent advantages in various fields. Yet, the state-of-art synthesis approaches are dominated by wet chemistry, accompanied by use of excessive solvent, and the requirement of time-consuming drying process. Herein, we report a mechanochemical solid-state route to synthesize mesoporous Al 2 O 3 (meso-Al 2 O 3 ) via aluminum isopropoxide-copolymers assembly. The obtained meso-Al 2 O 3 reflects a record high surface area (~644 m 2 g -1 ) and narrow pore size distribution (centered at ~5 nm). Moreover, a mechanochemical nonhydrolytic sol-gel strategy is introduced to fabricate mesoporous transition metal (Cu, Co, Mn, Fe, Mg, Ni)-aluminum binary oxide by using anhydrous metal chlorides and aluminum isopropoxide interplay. More importantly, four or five metals-aluminum oxide complexes with abundant mesopores and single cubic crystalline phase known as high-entropy ceramics are produced. To the best of our knowledge, mesoporous high-entropy metal oxides have not been prepared before, because the high crystallization temperature would make mesopores collapse. Furthermore, this high-entropy property endows (CuNiFeCoMg)O x -Al 2 O 3 with superior SO2-resisting performance (1000 ppm of SO 2 in N 2 at 280 °C) in the catalytic oxidation of CO compared to single CuO-Al 2 O 3 .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

AOI [3]: Smart Refractory Sensor Systems for Wireless Monitoring of Temperature, Health, and Degradation of Slagging Gasifiers

The objective of the work was to develop refractory “smart bricks”, which would contain embedded temperature, strain/stress, and spallation sensors throughout the volume of highchromia (-Cr 2 O 3 ) refractory brick. The proposed work included work to interconnect the sensors to the reactor exterior, where the sensor signals may be processed by low-power electronics and transmitted wirelessly to a central processing hub. The data processing and wireless transmitter hardware was specifically designed to be isolated (with low power consumption) and to be adaptable to future implementation of energy-harvesting strategies for extended life. Finally, the collected data was incorporated into a model to estimate refractory degradation, a technique that could help monitor the health of the refractory in real-time. The long-term goal of this program was to demonstrate high-temperature, wireless sensor arrays for in situ three-dimensional (3-D) refractory monitoring or mapping for slagging gasification systems. The research was in collaboration with HarbisonWalker International (HWI) Technology Center in West Mifflin, PA. HWI is a leading developer and manufacturer of ceramic refractory products for high-temperature applications. The work completed focused on the following areas: 1) Investigation of the chemical stability, microstructural evolution, grain growth kinetics, degree of homogeneity (quantitative image analysis), and electrical properties of refractory oxide-silicide composites at temperatures between 750-1450ºC; 2) Fabrication of silicide-alumina composite and oxide thermocouples and thermistor preforms and the development of techniques to embed them into high-chromia refractory bricks to form “smart bricks”; 3) Utilization of commercial off-the-shelf discrete components to prototype circuits for interfacing between smart brick sensors and the wireless sensor network. The prototypes were then used to design an integrated circuit for thermistor, thermocouple, and capacitive-based smart brick sensor interfacing; 4) Interfacing of the smart bricks with embedded sensors with wireless motes thus yielding a complete signal chain. This end-to-end data collection system was tested on a furnace heated to 1350°C; 5) Development of a slag penetration model and a nonlinear unknown input filter for the data from the embedded sensors for estimating temperature and extent of slag penetration.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Solid electrolytes for solid-state and lithium-sulfur batteries

The stringent demands placed on batteries by emerging vehicle technologies such as plug-in and battery electric vehicles suggest that improvements in the safety and performance of electrochemical energy storage devices, as well as concurrent reductions in their cost, are highly desirable. Current strategies for improving performance have largely focused on Li-ion battery chemistries. In this project went beyond the state of the art by pursuing electrolyte chemistries that will enable the use of Li metal anodes and sulfur cathodes, either concurrently in a solid state Li-S battery, or as a means to achieve a Li metal anode which is stable upon cycling. More specifically, our effort advanced strategies to enable Li metal anodes for myriad beyond Li-ion chemistries . LLZO garnet (Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 ) is the first bulk-scale ceramic electrolyte to exhibit the combination of superionic conductivity (1mS/cm at 298K), high shear modulus (61 GPa) to suppress Li dendrite penetration, and apparent electrochemical stability (0-6V vs Li/Li + ), thus enabling Li metal anodes. However, to date there are no reports confirming LLZO can tolerate current densities > 1mA/cm 2 , thus demonstrating relevance to PHEV/EV batteries. Our goal was to investigate the mechanisms that govern the Li-LLZO interfacial stability as a function of current density. We determined that defects in polycrystalline LLZO reduce the critical current density (CCD). Primarily contaminants on the LLZO surface and grain boundaries were the primary defects the limited the CCD. Using our experience with synthesis and processing (Sakamoto and Wolfenstine) and sophisticated materials characterization (Nanda), we precisely controlled atomistic and microstructural defects and correlated their effects on controlling the critical current density. These data fed into multi-scale computation models (Siegel and Monroe) to isolate and quantify the roles that each defect played in controlling the critical current density. Bridging this knowledge gap allowed us to demonstrate that LLZO can withstand > 1mA/cm 2 .

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2018

DFLAW Glass and Feed Qualifications for AP-107 to Support WTP Start-Up and Flow-Sheet Development (VSL-18R4500-1, Rev 0)

About 50 million gallons of high-level mixed waste is currently stored in underground tanks at The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hanford site in the State of Washington. The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) will provide DOE’s Office of River Protection (ORP) with a means of treating this waste by vitrification for subsequent disposal. The tank waste will be separated into low- and high-activity waste fractions, which will then be vitrified respectively into Immobilized Low Activity Waste (ILAW) and Immobilized High Level Waste (IHLW) products. The ILAW product will be disposed in an engineered facility on the Hanford site while the IHLW product is designed for acceptance into the national deep geological disposal facility for high-level nuclear waste. The ILAW and IHLW products must meet a variety of requirements with respect to protection of the environment before they can be accepted for disposal. The Low Activity Waste (LAW) at Hanford will be vitrified in a Joule Heated Ceramic Melter (JHCM) to produce a stable product for safe disposal. Although present in relatively small amounts, a few key constituents in the LAW streams play particularly important roles. Sulfur, chlorine, and fluorine can have significant impacts on LAW glass formulation and waste loadings, while technetium and iodine are important for waste form performance, with technetium being the constituent of most concern with respect to waste disposal in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). The IDF is designed to accept ILAW, secondary waste associated with ILAW production, and other on-site Hanford Non-Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) waste. As a result of volatilization of these species during the vitrification process, they are also present in significant amounts in the liquid effluents from the off-gas treatment system. Understanding the fraction of each constituent incorporated in the LAW glass or in WTP liquid effluents is critical for assessing the performance of waste forms to be disposed in the IDF. Liquid effluents from the LAW vitrification process that are not recycled will likely be solidified to produce a secondary waste form that is not as chemically durable as glass. Therefore, understanding partitioning of the key constituents between the glass and non-glass waste forms is a significant factor in the Performance Assessment (PA) for the Hanford IDF. Clearly, it is preferable to incorporate as much of the technetium into the glass as possible because of the superior chemical durability of that waste form. The objective of the present work is to improve the understanding of the partitioning of technetium and other key waste constituents between the glass and non-glass waste forms.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Densification and oxidation behavior of spark plasma sintered Hafnium Diboride-Hafnium Carbide composite

This study reports on the sintering and oxidation behaviors of Hafnium Diboride (HfB 2 ) and Hafnium Carbide (HfC) based ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC) composites. Pure Hafnium Diboride, Hafnium Carbide, and HfB 2 -50 vol% HfC composite were consolidated using spark plasma sintering (SPS) without the use of sintering aids. HfB 2 -HfC composite displayed a high sintered density of 98% as compared to 87% density of pure HfB 2 . The increased density of the HfB 2 -HfC composite is attributed to the bimodal powder distribution, which allowed for the smaller HfC particle to occupy the voids between the larger HfB 2 particles resulting in improved packing efficiency. Moreover, the higher planar surface energy, for the (111) and the (200) planes for HfC, contributed to the smaller HfC particle being a significant driving force in the sintering process. Oxidation studies of each material were carried out by exposing them to a high-speed plasma jet in a temperature exceeding 2700 °C. The results of these studies show an improved oxidation resistance of HfB 2 -HfC composite by 54% and 70% over pure HfC and HfB 2 , respectively. The enhanced oxidation behavior is attributed to B 2 O 3 filling in the porosity between the HfO 2 scale and protecting the underlying material. This study provides a new alternative to improve the sinterability of UHTC diborides by introducing another UHTC (i.e., HfC) to form a fully dense composite without sintering aid and superior oxidation resistance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Inventory and Waste Characterization Status Report and OWL Update.

This report represents completion of milestone deliverable M2SF-18SNO10309013 "Inventory and Waste Characterization Status Report and OWL Update that reports on FY2018 activities for the work package (WP) SF-18SNO1030901. This report provides the detailed final information for completed FY2018 work activities for WP SF-18SN01030901, and a summary of priorities for FY2019. This status report on FY2018 activities includes evaluations of waste form characteristics and waste form performance models, updates to the OWL development, and descriptions of the two planned management processes for the OWL. Updates to the OWL include an updated user's guide, additions to the OWL database content for wastes and waste forms, results of the Beta testing and changes implemented from it. There are two processes being planned in FY2018, which will be implemented in FY2019. One process covers methods for interfacing with the DOE SNF DB (DOE 2007) at INL on the numerous entries for DOE managed SNF, and the other process covers the management of updates to, and version control/archiving of, the OWL database. In FY2018, we have pursued three studies to evaluate/redefine waste form characteristics and/or performance models. First characteristic isotopic ratios for various waste forms included in postclosure performance studies are being evaluated to delineate isotope ratio tags that quantitatively identify each particular waste form. This evaluation arose due to questions regarding the relative contributions of radionuclides from disparate waste forms in GDSA results, particularly, radionuclide contributions of DOE-managed SNF vs HLW glass. In our second study we are evaluating the bases of glass waste degradation rate models to the HIP calcine waste form. The HIP calcine may likely be a ceramic matrix material, with multiple ceramic phases with/without a glass phase. The ceramic phases are likely to have different degradation performance from the glass portion. The distribution of radionuclides among those various phases may also be a factor in the radionuclide release rates. Additionally, we have an ongoing investigation of the performance behavior of TRISO particle fuels and are developing a stochastic model for the degradation of those fuels that accounts for simultaneous corrosion of the silicon carbide (SiC) layer and radionuclide diffusion through it. The detailed model of the TRISO particles themselves, will be merged with models of the degradation behavior(s) of the graphite matrix (either prismatic compacts or spherical "pebbles") containing the particles and the hexagonal graphite elements holding the compacts.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimization of overhang printing in ceramic binder jetting additive manufacturing

Cylindrical-shaped horizontally-hanging overhangs with different heights on a solid cubic body were printed via binder jetting additive manufacturing with sililcon carbide powder feedstock. Cracking on the overhang neck and sagging on the overhang body were observed both pre- and post-curing, especially on printed design with a smaller particle size of 10 μm. Here, it was found that the width of cracking and depth of sagging were dependent on the height relative to the solid body in the powder bed, and elevated position of overhang with large volume of underneath loose powder led to increased extend of cracking and sagging. Overhang diameter and weight were varied, which were found with no apparent effects on its deformation extend. To mitigate cracking and sagging, contactless support was designed and tested, which could significantly improve the overhang stability and avoid any overhang deformations. Support gap and support distance were studied for their effects on support capability. The printing processes with and without contactless support were simulated by a finite element modeling approach to understand the stress distribution and evolution of the overhang structures, which revealed stress concentrations on the upper neck point of the designed overhang.

Binder jetting↗
DOE OSTI2018

Functional Plasma-Sprayed Ceramic Coatings for Use in Fusion Energy Systems

There is growing demand for new, cleaner ways to supply the rapidly growing global energy demand, as concerns grow over climate change and declining supplies of fossil fuels. Nuclear fusion, the phenomenon in which atomic nuclei collide together and release massive quantities of energy, is one of the most promising options for generating large amounts of carbon-free energy in the future.1 To initiate a common nuclear fusion reaction of hydrogen isotopes – deuterium and tritium, a hot plasma state is needed at incredibly high temperatures approaching 100 million degrees centigrade. One practical way to achieve these conditions is to use magnetic confinement of the plasma in a toroidal nuclear reactor known as a tokamak (Figure 1). A commercial fusion power station will then harvest the energy by converting the heat provided by the fusion chain reaction into steam to power gas turbines, and generate electricity on to the grid, while the excess neutrons also produced in the process is captured by a blanket made of dense material surrounding the tokomak.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

On Uranium-Zirconium Carbonitride Formation by Direct Casting - A Novel Synthesis Study

UZrCN has exhibited thermophysical properties beneficial to high temperature reactor applications such as nuclear thermal rockets. The present work investigates a novel liquid phase synthesis method involving the admission of nitrogen gas during arc melting of uranium, zirconium, and carbon. Initial microstructural examinations using SEM indicated that the samples remain heterogenous with zirconium-rich cores in a uranium-rich matrix. Heterogeneity resulted from large differences in melting temperature of the major constituents and rapid solidification. Additional EDS, combustion analysis, and inert gas fusion analysis proved that the core regions have both uranium and zirconium and establish that carbon and nitrogen are retained during the fabrication process. XRD clarifies that the light elements did not form compounds with the uranium matrix but rather incorporated into the core region forming a sub-stoichiometric UZrCN. Heat treatment performed on equimolar U-Zr-C resulted in an increase in the homogenous phase present with an XRD pattern reflecting a ternary UZrCN despite small amounts of segregation in the final button.

36 - MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Rapid mapping of electrochemical processes in energy-conversion devices

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is ubiquitously applied to identify physicochemical processes governing the performance of energy-conversion devices. However, deconvolution and interpretation of impedance phenomena are limited by measurement throughput and a dearth of scalable analysis methods. Here, we demonstrate an approach to quickly collect and coherently analyze large volumes of electrochemical data. In this study, we accelerate impedance characterization by combining rapid measurements in time and frequency domains, which are interpretably transformed using the distribution of relaxation times (DRT) and a new distribution of phasances (DOP) model. This method provides excellent agreement with EIS and decreases measurement time by an order of magnitude. High-throughput spectra are then distilled into detailed electrochemical maps. This approach is applied to a Li-ion battery and a protonic ceramic electrochemical cell as practical case studies, demonstrating how mapping can richly characterize physicochemical relationships that are difficult to decipher with conventional measurement and analysis methods.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Static Strain Modelling, Calibration, and Measurements for High-Temperature Wireless SAW Resonator Operation

Static strain measurements are relevant for Integrated System Health Monitoring of civil structures, aircrafts, power plants and advanced manufacturing equipment, with implications for safety, process efficiency, and maintenance costs. Wireless strain sensing is highly desirable where the presence of wires poses significant safety concerns, increases maintenance, and thus overall costs, or where they are not feasible, such as in applications which contain moving parts. This paper presents wireless interrogation of surface acoustic wave resonators (SAWRs) fabricated on langasite (LGS) along Euler angles (0°, 138.5°, 32.9°) and aimed at the detection of static strain at hightemperature (HT, above 100°C). Both commercial HT strain gauges and finite element analysis (FEA Abaqus software) were used and compared for SAWR strain calibration from room temperature (RT) to HT. In addition, this work investigated a compromise between high temperature operation vs. sensitivity based on the thickness of ceramic adhesive used. For instance, a reduction in the adhesive thickness from about 150 μm to 135 μm, resulted in a 39% increase in sensitivity at RT. It was also observed that the sensitivity dropped up to 34% from RT to 200°C. Furthermore, wireless operation, calibration, and increase in sensitivity constitute important advances in the use of LGS SAW devices to monitor static stress in high-temperature harsh environments.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

The Effect of Loading Frequency on Fatigue Life of Green onyx under Fully Reversed Loading

Rock structures, in reality, may be subjected to reversed tension-compression loading conditions due to blasting, earthquake, and traffic or injection-recovery process. In this case, loading frequency may have a great influence on fatigue life and behavior of rocks. The effect of loading frequency on fatigue life of a crystalline rock sample under fully reversed loading condition was examined. A new apparatus, based on the R. R. Moore fatigue test machine, was used to assess the fully reversed loading condition. The experimental tests were conducted with five sets of loading frequency and five levels of stress based on the ultimate tensile strength of samples. The test results showed that the variation of ultimate fatigue stress versus loading cycle number (S-N curve) of crystalline rock samples were in accordance with the observed results in other materials such as metals and ceramics. The results showed that fatigue life of a component is positively correlated with the frequency level. The fatigue life improves with increasing the loading frequency, but the improvement was more tangible at lower stress levels than at higher stress levels. The effect of loading frequency in an ordinary S-N equation was also formulated. The results also showed that the loading frequency does not influence the fatigue limit.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

The Development of Nano-Composite Electrodes for Solid Oxide Electrolyzers

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and electrolyzers (SOE) offer an attractive means for converting between electrical and chemical energy. Because they operate at high temperatures and are usually based on electrolytes that are oxygen-ion conducting ceramics, such as yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), they are equally capable of converting between CO and CO 2 as between H 2 and H 2 O. When operated in the SOFC mode, they are able to operate on hydrocarbon fuels so long as there are no materials within the anode that can catalyze carbon formation. Compared to other types of electrolyzers, SOE can exhibit the highest efficiencies because the theoretical Nernst potential is lower at high temperatures and because the electrode overpotentials in SOE tend to be much lower. Finally, pure H 2 can be produced without an external electrical source by electrolysis of steam at one electrode and oxidation of any fuel at the other electrode through a process known as Natural-Gas Assisted Steam Electrolysis. This final report describes results from studies of novel electrodes for SOE and SOFC prepared by infiltration methods.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Final CRADA Report: Accelerated Burn-up Accumulation Test of Clean Core Thorium Energy Designated ANEEL Fuel

Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE), LLC, located in Oak Brook, Illinois, is committed to the development of alternative nuclear fuels. CCTE is focused on leveraging the inherent benefits of thorium to create a novel nuclear fuel solution for our worlds growing power demand. Unlike some other fuel cycles proposing to use thorium in advanced reactors, CCTE is focused on deploying solid fuel designs (ceramic pellets in metallic cladding) in existing pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWRs) and Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactors. CCTE’s fuel design, referred to as Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life (ANEEL), uses mixed thorium-uranium oxide ((Th,U)O2) to enhance reactor operational strategies while producing significantly low attractiveness material in terms of nuclear proliferation. The overall project objective is to investigate the performance of high burnup ANEEL fuel via an irradiation experiment to be performed in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The scope of work for this CRADA was specifically aimed at performing conceptual design and analysis to support development of an irradiation test rig, development of a fuel fabrication process for the experiment pellets, fabrication and qualification of the pellets, and shipment of the pellets to INL so they can be used to construct experiment rodlets.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Exploring Charged Defects in Ferroelectrics by the Switching Spectroscopy Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

Monitoring the charged defect concentration at the nanoscale is of critical importance for both the fundamental science and applications of ferroelectrics. However, up-to-date, high-resolution study methods for the investigation of structural defects, such as transmission electron microscopy, X-ray tomography, etc., are expensive and demand complicated sample preparation. Here, with an example of the lanthanum-doped bismuth ferrite ceramics, a novel method is proposed based on the switching spectroscopy piezoresponse force microscopy (SSPFM) that allows probing the electric potential from buried subsurface charged defects in the ferroelectric materials with a nanometer-scale spatial resolution. When compared with the composition-sensitive methods, such as neutron diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and local time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, the SSPFM sensitivity to the variation of the electric potential from the charged defects is shown to be equivalent to less than 0.3 at% of the defect concentration. Additionally, the possibility to locally evaluate dynamics of the polarization screening caused by the charged defects is demonstrated, which is of significant interest for further understanding defect-mediated processes in ferroelectrics.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Silicate Based Glass Formulations for Immobilization of U.S. Defense Wastes Using Cold Crucible Induction Melters

The cold crucible induction melter (CCIM) is an alternative technology to the currently deployed liquid-fed, ceramic-lined, Joule-heated melter for immobilizing of U.S. tank waste generated from defense related reprocessing. In order to accurately evaluate the potential benefits of deploying a CCIM, glasses must be developed specifically for that melting technology. Related glass formulation efforts have been conducted since the 1990s including a recent study that is first documented in this report. The purpose of this report is to summarize the silicate base glass formulation efforts for CCIM testing of U.S. tank wastes. Summaries of phosphate based glass formulation and phosphate and silicate based CCIM demonstration tests are reported separately (Day and Ray 2013 and Marra 2013, respectively). Combined these three reports summarize the current state of knowledge related to waste form development and process testing of CCIM technology for U.S. tank wastes.

Cold crucible induction melter↗