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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Theory of thermal conductivity in the disordered electron liquid

We study thermal conductivity in the disordered two-dimensional electron liquid in the presence of long-range Coulomb interactions. We describe a microscopic analysis of the problem using the partition function defined on the Keldysh contour as a starting point. We extend the renormalization group (RG) analysis developed for thermal transport in the disordered Fermi liquid and include scattering processes induced by the long-range Coulomb interaction in the sub-temperature energy range. For the thermal conductivity, unlike for the electrical conductivity, these scattering processes yield a logarithmic correction that may compete with the RG corrections. The interest in this correction arises from the fact that it violates the Wiedemann–Franz law. We checked that the sub-temperature correction to the thermal conductivity is not modified either by the inclusion of Fermi liquid interaction amplitudes or as a result of the RG flow. We therefore expect that the answer obtained for this correction is final. We use the theory to describe thermal transport on the metallic side of the metal–insulator transition in Si MOSFETs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Extraction of organic compounds from representative shales and the effect on porosity

This study is an attempt to understand how native organics are distributed with respect to pore size to determine the relationship between hydrocarbon chemistry and pore structure in shales, as the location and accessibility of hydrocarbons is key to understanding and improving the extractability of hydrocarbons in hydraulic fracturing. Selected shale cores from the Eagle Ford and Marcellus formations were subjected to pyrolysis gas chromatography (GC), thermogravimetric analysis, and organic solvent extraction with the resulting effluent analyzed by GC-mass spectrometry (MS). Organics representing the oil and gas fraction (0.1 to 1 wt. %) were observed by GC-MS. For most of the samples, the amount of native organic extracted directly related to the percentage of clay in the shale. The porosity and pore size distribution (0.95 nm to 1.35 m) in the Eagle Ford and Marcellus shales was measured before and after solvent extraction using small angle neutron scattering (SANS). An unconventional method was used to quantify the background from incoherent scattering as the Porod transformation obscures the Bragg peak from the clay minerals. Furthermore, the change in porosity from SANS is indicative of the extraction or breakdown of higher molecular weight bitumen with high C/H ratios (asphaltenes and resins). This is mostly likely attributed to complete dissolution or migration of asphaltenes and resins. These longer carbon chain lengths, C30-C40, were observed by pyrolysis GC, but either were too heavy to be analyzed in the extracts by GC-MS or were not effectively leached into the organic solvents. Thus, experimental limitations meant that the amount of extractable material could not be directly correlated to the changes in porosity measured by SANS. But, the observable porosity generally increased with solvent extraction. A decrease in porosity after extraction as observed in a shale with high clay content and low maturity was attributed to swelling of pores with solvent uptake or migration of resins and asphaltenes.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗
NASA NTRS1993

Processing of semicrystalline polymers

Our research group has been interested in the processing-structure-property relationships in semicrystalline polymers and blends for many years. In situ real time x ray scattering at elevated temperatures is being used to monitor the development of structure. An ongoing collaboration with Dr. Malcolm Capel at the Brookhaven National Synchrotron Light Source allows the performance of real time wide and small angle x ray scattering to study the phase transformations in semicrystalline polymers. The first part of my presentation will be about our recent use of x ray scattering to study blends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) with polyarylates. The purpose of the next portion of the presentation is to show how we may study effects of self-deformation of polymers during processing in the gravity environment, using real time x ray scattering. In this way, how processing stresses alter the microstructure of semicrystalline polymers was learned, and ultimately microgravity processing strategies that will result in more uniform morphology in these polymers is hoped to be developed.

Cebe, Peggy↗
DOE OSTI2026

Spectral deconvolution without the deconvolution: Extracting temperature from x-ray Thomson scattering spectra without the source-and-instrument function

X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) probes the dynamic structure factor of the system, but the measured spectrum is broadened by the combined source-and-instrument function (SIF) of the setup. In order to extract properties such as temperature from an XRTS spectrum, the broadening by the SIF needs to be removed. Recent work [Dornheim et al. Nat. Commun. 13 , 7911 (2022)] has suggested that the SIF may be deconvolved using the two-sided Laplace transform. However, the extracted information can depend strongly on the shape of the input SIF, and the SIF is in practice challenging to measure accurately. Here, we propose an alternative approach: we demonstrate that considering ratios of Laplace-transformed XRTS spectra collected at different scattering angles is equivalent to performing the deconvolution, but without the need for explicit knowledge of the SIF. From these ratios, it is possible to directly extract the temperature from the scattering spectra, when the system is in thermal equilibrium. We find the method to be generally robust to spectral noise and physical differences between the spectrometers, and we explore situations in which the method breaks down. Furthermore, the fact that consistent temperatures can be extracted for systems in thermal equilibrium indicates that non-equilibrium effects could be identified by inconsistent temperatures of a few eV between the ratios of three or more scattering angles.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Goldstone bosons on celestial sphere and conformal soft theorems

In this paper, we study celestial amplitudes of Goldstone bosons and conformal soft theorems. Motivated by the success of soft bootstrap in momentum space and the important role of the soft limit behavior of tree-level amplitudes, our goal is to extend some of the methods to the celestial sphere. The crucial ingredient of the calculation is the Mellin transformation, which transforms four-dimensional scattering amplitudes to correlation functions of primary operators in the celestial CFT. The soft behavior of the amplitude is then translated to the singularities of the correlator. Only for amplitudes in “UV completed theories” (with sufficiently good high energy behavior) the Mellin integration can be properly performed. In all other cases, the celestial amplitude is only defined in a distributional sense with delta functions. We provide many examples of celestial amplitudes in UV-completed models, including linear sigma models and Z-theory, which is a certain completion of the SU(N) non-linear sigma model. We also comment on the BCFW-like and soft recursion relations for celestial amplitudes and the extension of soft bootstrap ideas.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Green Synthesis and Antioxidant Study of Silver Nanoparticles of Root Extract of Sageretia thea and Its Role in Oxidation Protection Technology

Development of environmentally friendly synthesis of nanoparticles is one of the important areas of research in nanotechnology. In present study silver naopartticles (AgNPs) of root extract of Sageretia thea (S. thea) were synthesized at room temperature. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV. Visible spectroscopy (UV), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Formation of AgNPs was confirmed by visual examination the colour change from yellow to brick red due to surface Plasmon resonance band at 435 nm. SEM and TEM analysis of synthesized AgNPs revealed spherical morphology with average particle size 25 nm. Crystalline nature of the AgNPs in face centered cubic structure is evident from the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and XRD pattern. The presence of elemental Ag was confirmed by EDX analysis at 3kv. Different functional groups which responsible for reduction and stabilization of reaction medium was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The biosynthesized AgNPs showed strong DPPH and dye protection radical scavenging assay while modest hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging assay as compare to crude extract. The present investigations suggest that biosynthesized nanoparticles have a high potential for use in the preparation of drugs used against various diseases and also a promising candidate for many medical applications.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Renormalization group flow of the Aharonov–Bohm scattering amplitude

The Aharonov–Bohm elastic scattering with incident particles described by plane waves is revisited by using the phase-shifts method. The formal equivalence between the cylindrical Schrödinger equation and the one-dimensional Calogero problem allows us to show that up to two scattering phase-shifts modes in the cylindrical waves expansion must be renormalized. The renormalization procedure introduces new length scales giving rise to spontaneous breaking of the conformal symmetry. The knowledge of the exact beta function permits us to describe the renormalization group flows within the two-parametric family of renormalized Aharonov–Bohm scattering amplitudes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Novel superstructure of the rocksalt type and element distribution in germanium tin antimony tellurides

A superstructure of the rocksalt-type observed in quenched CVT-grown single crystals of Ge{sub 3.25(7)}Sn{sub 1.10(3)}Sb{sub 1.10(3)}Te{sub 6} was elucidated by X-ray diffraction using fourfold twinned crystals (space group P3{sup ¯}m1, a=4.280(1) Å, c=20.966(3) Å). The structure is built up of distorted rocksalt-type building blocks typical for long-range ordered GST materials and substitution variants thereof. In contrast to those phases, an exclusive ABC-type cubic stacking sequence of the Te-atom layers is present. High-resolution electron microscopy reveals spheroidal domains with this structure (average diameter 25 nm) whose stacking direction is perpendicular to the 〈1 1 1〉 directions of the basic rocksalt-type structure. Additional slab-like domains with a lateral extension up to 1 µm occasionally result in a hierarchical structure motif. Due to the similar electron counts of the elements involved, resonant diffraction was used in order to elucidate the element distribution in rocksalt-type building blocks of the stable layered compound 39R-Ge{sub 3}SnSb{sub 2}Te{sub 7} (R3{sup ¯}m, a=4.24990(4) Å, c=73.4677(9) Å). Sb tends to occupy the atom site close to the van der Waals gaps while Ge concentrates in the center of the building blocks. - Graphical abstract: High-resolution transmission electron micrograph, SAED pattern and reciprocal lattice section of X-ray single crystal data of Ge{sub 3.25}Sn{sub 1.1}Sb{sub 1.1}Te{sub 6} with an 11P-type superstructure of the rocksalt type. - Highlights: • A novel superstructure of the rocksalt-type in the system Ge–Sn–Sb–Te is elucidated. • It combines the cubic stacking of the HT phase with building blocks of the RT phase. • It indicates the ordering mechanism during the phase transition of GST materials. • A hierarchical structure motif is promising with respect to the reduction of κ{sub L}. • Resonant diffraction reveals the element distribution in 39R-Ge{sub 3}SnSb{sub 2}Te{sub 7}.

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

Influence of NaCl on shape deformation of polymersomes

Polymersomes frequently appear in the literature as promising candidates for a wide range of applications from targeted drug delivery to nanoreactors. From a cell mimetic point of view, it is important to understand the size and shape changes of the vesicles in the physiological environment since that can influence the drug delivery mechanism. In this work we studied the structural features of polymersomes consisting of poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(dimethylsiloxane)–poly(ethylene glycol) at the nanoscopic length scale in the presence of NaCl, which is a very common molecule in the biotic aqueous environment. Here, we used dynamic light scattering (DLS), cryo-TEM, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). We observed transformation of polymersomes from spherical to elongated vesicles at low salt concentration and into multivesicular structures at high salt concentration. Model fitting analysis of SANS data indicated a reduction of vesicle radius up to 47% and from the SAXS data we observed an increase in membrane thickness up to 8% and an increase of the PDMS hydrophobic segment up to 11% indicating stretching of the membrane due to osmotic imbalance. Also, from the increase in the interlamellar repeat distance up to 98% under high salt concentrations, we concluded that the shape and structural changes observed in the polymersomes are a combined result of osmotic pressure change and ion–membrane interactions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Toward model-free temperature diagnostics of warm dense matter from multiple scattering angles

Warm dense matter plays an important role in astrophysical objects and technological applications, but the rigorous diagnostics of corresponding experiments is notoriously difficult. In this work, we present a model-free analysis of x-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) measurements on isochorically heated graphite obtained at the Linac Coherent Light Source at multiple scattering angles. We demonstrate that the recent imaginary-time thermometry technique works for scattering data that have been measured in both forward and backward scattering geometry. This opens up the way toward a rigorous quantification of nonequilibrium effects in future experiments, where XRTS measurements are being obtained from multiple scattering angles from the same sample.

Equations of state↗
DOE OSTI2015

Quantum critical fluctuations in the heavy fermion compound Ce(Ni 0.935 Pd 0.065 ) 2 Ge 2

Electric resistivity, specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and inelastic neutron scattering experi- ments were performed on a single crystal of the heavy fermion compound Ce(Ni 0.935 Pd 0.065 ) 2 Ge 2 in order to study the spin fluctuations near an antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum critical point (QCP). The resistivity and the specific heat coefficient for T ≤ 1 K exhibit the power law behavior expected for a 3D itinerant AF QCP (ρ(T) ~ T 3/2 and γ(T) ~ γ 0 - bT 1/2 ). However, for 2 ≤ T ≤ 10 K, the susceptibility and specific heat vary as log T and the resistivity varies linearly with temperature. Furthermore, despite the fact that the resistivity and specific heat exhibit the non-Fermi liquid behavior expected at a QCP, the correlation length, correlation time, and staggered susceptibility of the spin fluctuations remain finite at low temperature. We suggest that these deviations from the divergent behavior expected for a QCP may result from alloy disorder.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cation Dynamics in Hybrid Halide Perovskites

Hybrid halide perovskite semiconductors exhibit complex, dynamical disorder while also harboring properties ideal for optoelectronic applications that include photovoltaics. However, these materials are structurally and compositionally distinct from traditional compound semiconductors composed of tetrahedrally coordinated elements with an average valence electron count of silicon. The additional dynamic degrees of freedom of hybrid halide perovskites underlie many of their potentially transformative physical properties. Neutron scattering and spectroscopy studies of the atomic dynamics of these materials have yielded significant insights into their functional properties. Specifically, inelastic neutron scattering has been used to elucidate the phonon band structure, and quasi-elastic neutron scattering has revealed the nature of the uncorrelated dynamics pertaining to molecular reorientations. Understanding the dynamics of these complex semiconductors has elucidated the temperature-dependent phase stability and origins of defect-tolerant electronic transport from the highly polarizable dielectric response. Furthermore, the dynamic degrees of freedom of the hybrid perovskites provide additional opportunities for application engineering and innovation.

Materials Science↗
DOE OSTI2019

VULCAN: A “hammer” for high-temperature materials research

Understanding changes in chemistry, microstructure, and physical properties during synthesis, processing, testing, and even service is vital for materials design and performance. Compared to traditional postmortem material characterization tools, in situ crystallographic characterization can provide considerable data and information on evolution of chemistry, dislocations, twinning, texture, and strains when a material is under external stimuli. Neutrons especially are able to probe material bulk properties and behaviors in extreme environments, thanks to their deep penetrating power and unique sensitivity to differentiate elements from lightweight to transition-metal atoms. In this article, we introduce and describe a diffractometer named VULCAN, which is located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Finally, this represents a powerful tool to understand materials properties and behaviors under complex environments, in particular, at high temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1984

The Boot Lake MF imaging radar

The Middle-Atmosphere Imaging Radar is located at the Boot Lake field site, 10 miles east of Brighton, Colorado. It operates at 2.66 MHz with a 50-kW peak pulse power in 30 microsecond pulses. Ten independent coaxial-collinear antennas are used; five are parallel and run east-west, the other five are parallel and run north-south. Each antenna consists of eight half-wave dipoles. All ten antennas or a crossed pair may be used for transmission; all ten are sampled by pairs in rapid sequence for reception. The system is now operating on a campaign basis as a Fourier interferometer by measuring the complex voltages on the ten antennas and Fourier transforming them independently. Multiple scatterers within a single range gate, now sorted by velocity, can be located individually by their phase angles. The transmitted signal cycles through four modes (N-S linear, right-hand circular, E-W linear, and left-hand circular).

Adams, G. W.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Characterizing degraded visual environments with scanning lenses to improve contrast recovery

Atmospheric aerosols, such as fog and smoke, degrade optical signals via the scattering and absorption of light, making it difficult to recover information from the surrounding environment. Here, we present a technique that measures the angular distribution of light in scattering environments to help recover these degraded optical signals. This is done by passing a collimated beam through the aerosol environment and collecting the scattered and unscattered light with an f-theta scan lens. The lens transforms the angular distribution of the scattered light into the linear domain, mapping the collected light onto a detector. The measured angular scattering distribution is then used to estimate the point spread function of the environment at an arbitrary stand-off distance. This point spread function can be used to deconvolve images blurred by the aerosol environment in which the angular scattering distribution was initially measured. With this approach, we demonstrate improvements in the effective resolution of deblurred images up to 26% over a 120-cm stand-off distance. Experimentation was performed in the Sandia National Laboratories tabletop fog chamber, a platform that generates aerosol environments analogous to real-world fogs. We intend to leverage this technique in future work to develop a low-SWaP system for the in situ characterization of aerosol environments.

Aerosols↗
DOE OSTI2023

Temperature-Controlled Reversible Formation and Phase Transformation of 3D Nanocrystal Superlattices Through In Situ Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

For decades, the spontaneous organization of nanocrystals into superlattices has captivated the scientific community. However, achieving direct control over the formation of the superlattice and its phase transformations has proven to be a grand challenge, often resulting in the generation of multiple symmetries under the same experimental conditions. Here, we achieve direct control over the formation of the superlattice and its phase transformations by modulating the thermal energy of a nanocrystal dispersion without relying on solvent evaporation. In this study, we follow the temperature-dependent dynamics of the self-assembly process using synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering. When cooled below –24.5 °C, lead sulfide nanocrystals form micrometer-sized three-dimensional phase-pure body-centered cubic superlattices. When cooled below –35.1 °C, these superlattices undergo a collective diffusionless phase transformation that yields denser body-centered tetragonal phases. These structural changes can be reversed by increasing the temperature of the dispersion and may lead to the direct modulation of the optical properties of these artificial solids.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nonlinear Raman forward scattering driven by a short laser pulse in a collisional transversely magnetized plasma with nonextensive distribution

Nonlinear Raman forward scattering of an intense short laser pulse with a duration shorter than the plasma period propagating through a homogenous collisional nonextensive distributed plasma in the presence of a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to both the direction of propagation and electric vector of the radiation field is investigated theoretically when ponderomotive, relativistic, and collisional nonlinearities are taken into account. The governing equations for nonlinear wave in the context of nonextensive statistics are given, the nonextensive coupled equations describing the nonlinear Raman forward scattering instability are solved by the Fourier transformation method, and the growth rate of the nonlinear Raman forward scattering instability is obtained. The results in the case q → 1 are consistent with those in the framework of the Maxwellian distribution. It is found that the instability growth rate first decreases on increasing electron thermal velocity, minimizes at a critical thermal velocity, and then increases steeply; the critical temperature dependents on the nonextensive parameter, and the greater nonextensive parameter, correspond to the greater critical temperature; when the thermal velocity of electron is less than the critical speed, the instability growth rate is found to be enhanced as the nonextensive parameter increases; but when the thermal velocity is greater than the critical speed, the instability growth rate decreases on increasing the nonextensive parameter.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗