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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 1,297 records · Page 72
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Effects of Sn addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of Ti–Nb–Sn alloys

Ti and Ti alloys are widely used in restorative surgery because of their good biocompatibility, enhanced mechanical behavior and high corrosion resistance in physiological media. The corrosion resistance of Ti-based materials is due to the spontaneous formation of the TiO{sub 2} oxide film on their surface, which exhibits elevated stability in biological fluids. Ti–Nb alloys, depending on the composition and the processing routes to which the alloys are subjected, have high mechanical strength combined with low elastic modulus. The addition of Sn to Ti–Nb alloys allows the phase transformations to be controlled, particularly the precipitation of ω phase. The aim of this study is to discuss the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of cast Ti–Nb alloys to which Sn has been added. Samples were centrifugally cast in a copper mold, and the microstructure was characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. Mechanical behavior evaluation was performed using Berkovich nanoindentation, Vickers hardness and compression tests. The corrosion behavior was evaluated in Ringer's solution at room temperature using electrochemical techniques. The results obtained suggested that the physical, mechanical and chemical behaviors of the Ti–Nb–Sn alloys are directly dependent on the Sn content. - Graphical abstract: Effects of Sn addition to the Ti–30Nb alloy on the elastic modulus. - Highlights: • Sn addition causes reduction of the ω phase precipitation. • Minimum Vickers hardness and elastic modulus occurred for 6 wt.% Sn content. • Addition of 6 wt.% Sn resulted in maximum ductility and minimum compression strength. • All Ti–30Nb–XSn (X = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%) alloys are passive in Ringer's solution. • Highest corrosion resistance was observed for 6 wt.% Sn content.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Anharmonicity and Phase Diagram of Magnesium Oxide in the Megabar Regime

With density functional molecular dynamics simulations, we computed the phase diagram of MgO from 50 to 2000 GPa up to 20000 K. Via thermodynamic integration (TDI), we derive the Gibbs free energies of the B1, B2, and liquid phases and determine their phase boundaries. With TDI and a pseudo-quasi-harmonic approach, we show that anharmonic effects are important and stabilize the B1 phase in particular. As a result, the B1-B2 transition boundary in the pressure-temperature plane exhibits a steep slope. We predict the B1-B2-liquid triple point to occur at approximately T= 10000 K and P = 370 GPa, which is higher in pressure than was inferred with quasi-harmonic methods alone. We predict the principal shock Hugoniot curve to enter the B2 phase stability domain but only over a very small range of parameters. Here, this may render it difficult to observe this phase with shock experiments because of kinetic effects.

3-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2014

Growth control of the oxidation state in vanadium oxide thin films

Precise control of the chemical valence or oxidation state of vanadium in vanadium oxide thin films is highly desirable for not only fundamental research, but also technological applications that utilize the subtle change in the physical properties originating from the metalinsulator transition (MIT) near room temperature. However, due to the multivalent nature of vanadium and the lack of a good understanding on growth control of the oxidation state, stabilization of phase pure vanadium oxides with a single oxidation state is extremely challenging. Here, we systematically varied the growth conditions to clearly map out the growth window for preparing phase pure epitaxial vanadium oxides by pulsed laser deposition for providing a guideline to grow high quality thin films with well-defined oxidation states of V₂⁺²O₃, V⁺⁴O₂, and V₂⁺⁵O₅. A well pronounced MIT was only observed in VO₂ films grown in a very narrow range of oxygen partial pressure P(O₂). The films grown either in lower (< 10 mTorr) or higher P(O₂) (> 25 mTorr) result in V₂O₃ and V₂O₅ phases, respectively, thereby suppressing the MIT for both cases. We have also found that the resistivity ratio before and after the MIT of VO₂ thin films can be further enhanced by one order of magnitude when the films are further oxidized by post-annealing at a well-controlled oxidizing ambient. This result indicates that stabilizing vanadium into a single valence state has to compromise with insufficient oxidation of an as grown thin film and, thereby, a subsequent oxidation is required for an 3 improved MIT behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

A nanoscale temperature-dependent heterogeneous nucleation theory

Classical nucleation theory relies on the hypothetical equilibrium of the whole nucleation system, and neglects the thermal fluctuations of the surface; this is because the high entropic gains of the (thermodynamically extensive) surface would lead to multiple stable states. In fact, at the nanometer scale, the entropic gains of the surface are high enough to destroy the stability of the thermal equilibrium during nucleation, comparing with the whole system. We developed a temperature-dependent nucleation theory to elucidate the heterogeneous nucleation process, by considering the thermal fluctuations based on classical nucleation theory. It was found that the temperature not only affected the phase transformation, but also influenced the surface energy of the nuclei. With changes in the Gibbs free energy barrier, nucleation behaviors, such as the nucleation rate and the critical radius of the nuclei, showed temperature-dependent characteristics that were different from those predicted by classical nucleation theory. The temperature-dependent surface energy density of a nucleus was deduced based on our theoretical model. The agreement between the theoretical and experimental results suggested that the developed nucleation theory has the potential to contribute to the understanding and design of heterogeneous nucleation at the nanoscale.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Thermal stability of titanate nanorods and titania nanowires formed from titanate nanotubes by heating

The structure of titanate nanowires was studied by a combination of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and 3D precession electron diffraction. Titania nanowires and titanate nanorods were prepared by heating of titanate nanotubes. The structure of final product depended on heating conditions. Titanium nanotubes heated in air at a temperature of 850 °C decomposed into three phases — Na{sub 2}Ti{sub 6}O{sub 13} (nanorods) and two phases of TiO{sub 2} — anatase and rutile. At higher temperatures the anatase form of TiO{sub 2} transforms into rutile and the nanorods change into rutile nanoparticles. By contrast, in the vacuum only anatase phases of TiO{sub 2} were obtained by heating at 900 °C. The anatase transformation into rutile began only after a longer time of heating at 1000 °C. For the description of anisotropic XRD line broadening in the total powder pattern fitting by the program MSTRUCT a model of nanorods with elliptical base was included in the software. The model parameters — rod length, axis size of the elliptical base, the ellipse flattening parameter and twist of the base could be refined. Variation of particle shapes with temperature was found. - Highlights: • Titanate nanotubes changed to particles of TiO{sub 2} and nanorods of Na{sub 2}Ti{sub 6}O{sub 13} at 850 °C. • With heating time and temperature nanorods transformed to rutile nanoparticles. • X-ray diffraction powder pattern fitting indicated an elliptical shape of nanorod base. • No transition of titanate nanotubes to Na{sub 2}Ti{sub 6}O{sub 13} was found after heating in vacuum. • Heating of titanate nanotubes in vacuum leads to appearance of anatase nanowires.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Strain-induced phase and oxygen-vacancy stability in ionic interfaces from first-principles calculations

Understanding interfacial chemistry is becoming crucial in materials design for heterointerfaces. Using density functional theory, we elucidate the effect of strained interfaces on phase and oxygen-vacancy stability for CeO2 | ZrO2, ThO2 | ZrO2 and CeO2 | ThO2 interfaces. The calculations show that ZrO2 transforms from cubic fluorite to the orthorhombic columbite under tensile strain providing evidence of a previous experimental speculation of an unrecognized ZrO2 phase. We also show that oxygen vacancies could be preferably stabilized on either side of the interface by manipulating strain. We predict that they are stable in tensile-strain, and unstable in compressivestrained materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

Thermal studies of Se{sub 85-x}Te{sub 15}In{sub x} (x = 3,6,9,12) glasses

Bulk glasses of compositions Se{sub 85-x}Te{sub 15}In{sub x} (x = 3,6,9,12) are prepared by melt quenching technique and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is employed to study the thermal stability, crystallization mechanism as well as specific heat of these glasses. It is found that the addition of indium increases the glass transition temperature. From the heating rate dependence of the glass transition temperature the activation energy of glass transition is determined using Kissinger's equation for non-isothermal crystallization of materials. An attempt has been made to explain the variation in the value of T{sub c}, T{sub p} and {Delta}C{sub p} for the composition Se{sub 73}Te{sub 15}In{sub 12} using rigidity percolation threshold (RPT). From the values of (T{sub c}-T{sub g}) the stable glass system is determined.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigation of structural stability and elastic properties of Zrh and Zrh{sub 2}: A first principles study

The electronic, structural and mechanical properties of ZrH and ZrH{sub 2} are investigated by means of first principles calculation based on density functional theory as implemented in VASP code with generalized gradient approximation. The calculated ground state properties are in good agreement with previous experimental and other theoretical results. Among the six crystallographic structures considered for ZrH, ZB phase is found to be the most stable phase, whereas ZrH{sub 2} is energetically stable in tetragonal structure at ambient condition. A structural phase transition from ZB→NaCl at a pressure 10 GPa is predicted for ZrH.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Influence of growth conditions on exchange bias of NiMn-based spin valves

As shown in previous investigations, a correlation between a NiMn-based spin valve's thermal stability and its inherent exchange bias exists, even if the blocking temperature of the antiferromagnet is clearly above the heating temperature and the reason for thermal degradation is mainly diffusion and not the loss of exchange bias. Samples with high exchange bias are thermally more stable than samples with low exchange bias. Those structures promoting a high exchange bias are seemingly the same suppressing thermally induced diffusion processes (A. Wienecke and L. Rissing, “Relationship between thermal stability and layer-stack/structure of NiMn-based GMR systems,” in IEEE Transaction on Magnetic Conference (EMSA 2014)). Many investigations were carried out on the influence of the sputtering parameters as well as the layer thickness on the magnetoresistive effect. The influence of these parameters on the exchange bias and the sample's thermal stability, respectively, was hardly taken into account. The investigation described here concentrates on the last named issue. The focus lies on the influence of the sputtering parameters and layer thickness of the “starting layers” in the stack and the layers forming the (synthetic) antiferromagnet. This paper includes a guideline for the evaluated sputtering conditions and layer thicknesses to realize a high exchange bias and presumably good thermal stability for NiMn-based spin valves with a synthetic antiferromagnet.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

Impact of nanostructuring on the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of microscale phase-separated La 5/8–y Pr y Ca 3/8 MnO₃ manganites

Bulk manganites of the form La 5/8–y Pr y Ca 3/8 MnO₃ (LPCMO) exhibit a complex phase diagram due to coexisting charge-ordered antiferromagnetic (CO/AFM), charge-disordered paramagnetic (PM), and ferromagnetic (FM) phases. Because phase separation in LPCMO occurs on the microscale, reducing particle size to below this characteristic length is expected to have a strong impact on the magnetic properties of the system. Through a comparative study of the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of single-crystalline (bulk) and nanocrystalline LPCMO (y=3/8) we show that the AFM, CO, and FM transitions seen in the single crystal can also be observed in the large particle sizes (400 and 150 nm), while only a single PM to FM transition is found for the small particles (55 nm). Magnetic and magnetocaloric measurements reveal that decreasing particle size affects the balance of competing phases in LPCMO and narrows the range of fields over which PM, FM, and CO phases coexist. The FM volume fraction increases with size reduction, until CO is suppressed below some critical size, ~100 nm. With size reduction, the saturation magnetization and field sensitivity first increase as long-range CO is inhibited, then decrease as surface effects become increasingly important. The trend that the FM phase is stabilized on the nanoscale is contrasted with the stabilization of the charge-disordered PM phase occurring on the microscale, demonstrating that in terms of the characteristic phase separation length, a few microns and several hundred nanometers represent very different regimes in LPCMO.

Bingham, N. S.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Structure and thermal behavior of a nickel complex based on a V-shaped bis(4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)amine ligand

A new coordination polymer ([Ni(BIPA)(bpdc)(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}]){sub n} has been prepared based on a new V-shaped bis(4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)amine (BIPA) ligand. Complex was characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, X-ray powder diffraction, thermal analysis and single crystal X-ray analysis. Complex exhibits a 1D → 3D structure. Hydrogen bonds play an important role in the formation of supramolecular network structure. Thermal analysis indicates that complex exhibits a high thermal stability.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Phase Control on Surface for the Stabilization of High Energy Cathode Materials of Lithium Ion Batteries

The development of high energy electrode materials for lithium ion batteries is challenged by their inherent instabilities, which become more aggravated as the energy densities continue to climb, accordingly causing increasing concerns on battery safety and reliability. Here, taking the high voltage cathode of LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 as an example, we demonstrate a protocol to stabilize this cathode through a systematic phase modulating on its particle surface. We are able to transfer the spinel surface into a 30 nm shell composed of two functional phases including a rock-salt one and a layered one. The former is electrochemically inert for surface stabilization while the latter is designated to provide necessary electrochemical activity. The precise synthesis control enables us to tune the ratio of these two phases, and achieve an optimized balance between improved stability against structural degradation without sacrificing its capacity. This study highlights the critical importance of well-tailored surface phase property for the cathode stabilization of high energy lithium ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2018

The stabilization of primitive bicontinuous cubic phases with tunable swelling over a wide composition range

In this paper we investigate the pseudo-ternary phase diagram of glycerol monooleate (GMO), a cationic lipid (DOTAP - 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane), and a "PEGylated" lipid (DOPE-PEG - 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000 kDa]) in excess water. We use small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) to map out a phase diagram in a regime of low DOPE-PEG content (1–5 mol%), which is pertinent for the application of lipid systems as carriers of biomolecular cargo to cells. Pure GMO is known to self-assemble into bicontinuous cubic phases of the gyroid type at low water content and of the diamond type in excess water. These complex structures have numerous advantages reaching beyond drug delivery, e.g. as protein crystallization matrices but their formulation is challenging as very small contents of guest molecules can shift the phase behavior towards other geometries such as the lamellar phase. In this work we show that the ternary GMO/DOTAP/DOPE-PEG system allows the stabilization of bicontinuous cubic phases in excess water over a wide composition range. Furthermore, the symmetry of the phase can be tuned by varying the amount of PEGylated lipid, with the primitive type dominating at low DOPE-PEG content (1–3 mol%) and the diamond phase arising at 5 mol% DOPE-PEG. In addition, we found that the diamond phase is virtually non-responsive to electrostatic swelling. In contrast, primitive bicontinuous cubic lattice dimensions swell up in equilibrium to 650 A with increased cationic lipid content.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Simulated structure and thermodynamics of decagonal Al-Co-Cu quasicrystals

Atomic structures of Al-Co-Cu decagonal quasicrystals (dQCs) are investigated using empirical oscillating pair potentials (EOPP) in molecular dynamic (MD) simulations that we enhance by Monte Carlo (MC) swapping of chemical species and replica exchange. Predicted structures exhibit planar decagonal tiling patterns and are periodic along the perpendicular direction. We then recalculate the energies of promising structures using first-principles density functional theory (DFT), along with energies of competing phases. We find that our τ -inflated sequence of QC approximants (QCAs) are energetically unstable at low temperature by at least 3 meV/atom. Extending our study to finite temperatures by calculating harmonic vibrational entropy, as well as anharmonic contributions that include chemical species swaps and tile flips, our results suggest that the quasicrystal phase is entropically stabilized at temperatures in the range 600-800 K and above. It decomposes into ordinary (though complex) crystal phases at low temperatures, including a partially disordered B2-type phase. We discuss the influence of density and composition on QC phase stability; we compare the structural differences between Co-rich and Cu-rich quasicrystals; and we analyze the role of entropy in stabilizing the quasicrystal, concluding with a discussion of the possible existence of “high entropy” quasicrystals. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Huang, Yang (ORCID:0009000045917347)↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pressure induced tetragonal to monoclinic transition in RbN{sub 3} studied from first principles theory

Alkali metal azides are well known for their application as explosives and gas generators. They are used as precursors in synthesis of polymeric nitrogen, an ultimate green high energy density material. Among the alkali metal azides, rubidium azide RbN{sub 3} crystallizes in tetragonal structure with linear azide ions arranged in layers and binds through weak dispersive interactions. In this present work, we have studied the structural stability, electronic structure and optical properties of solid RbN{sub 3} by using van der Waals corrected density functional theory. We find that the ambient tetragonal structure undergoes a structural transition to monoclinic structure at 0.72 GPa, which is in good agreement with the experimental transition pressure of less than 1 GPa. The phonon frequencies at the gamma point are calculated and found that the lattice mode Eg softens under pressure which may supports the structural phase transition. The electronic band structure and optical properties are calculated by using Tran Blaha-modified Becke Johnson (TB-mBJ) functional and found that solid RbN{sub 3} is an insulator with a gap of 5.976 eV and the optical absorption starts with the UV light of wave length 207.5 nm.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

In situ characterization of the formation of a mixed conducting phase on the surface of yttria-stabilized zirconia near Pt electrodes

The electrochemical reactions of solid oxide fuel cells occur in the region where gas-phase species, electrode, and electrolyte coincide. When the electrode is an ionic insulator and the electrolyte is an electronic insulator, this triple phase boundary is assumed to have atomic dimensions. For this study, we use photoemission electron microscopy to show that the reduced surface of the electrolyte yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has a sharp electronic metal-insulator boundary near Pt negative electrodes. The electronic conductivity of the reduced YSZ allows for oxygen reduction, allowing the reduced YSZ to behave as an extended triple phase boundary. This extended triple phase boundary can be many microns in size, depending on oxygen pressure, temperature, applied voltage, and time.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Lattice dynamics and the nature of structural transitions in organolead halide perovskites

Organolead halide perovskites are a family of hybrid organic-inorganic compounds whose remarkable optoelectronic properties have been under intensive scrutiny in recent years. Here we use inelastic x-ray scattering to study low-energy lattice excitations in single crystals of methylammonium lead iodide and bromide perovskites. Our findings confirm the displacive nature of the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition, which is further shown, using neutron and x-ray diffraction, to be close to a tricritical point. Lastly, we detect quasistatic symmetry-breaking nanodomains persisting well into the high-temperature cubic phase, possibly stabilized by local defects. These findings reveal key structural properties of these materials, and also bear important implications for carrier dynamics across an extended temperature range relevant for photovoltaic applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗