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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Spatially Offset Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy: Observing Exciton Transport through a Vibrational Lens

To design better molecular electronic devices, we need a strong understanding of how charges or excitons propagate, as many efficiency losses arise during transport. Exciton transport has been difficult to study because excitons tend to be short-lived, have short diffusion lengths, and can easily recombine. Here, we debut spatially offset femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (SO-FSRS), a three-pulse ultrafast microscopy technique. By offsetting the photoexcitation beam, we can monitor Raman spectral changes as a function of both time and position. We used SO-FSRS on 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene, a well-studied organic semiconductor used in photovoltaics and field-effect transistors. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the fast exciton and free charge carrier transport axes are identical and observed that exciton transport is less anisotropic by a factor of ~3. SO-FSRS is the first technique that directly tracks molecular structural evolution during exciton transport, which can provide roadmaps for tailor-making molecules for specific electronic devices.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spatial Control Of Functional Properties Via Octahedral Modulations In Complex Oxide Superlattices

The design of distortions and rotations of the corner-connected BO6 octahedra across interfaces has emerged as an exciting platform to control electronic or ferroic behavior in ABO3 perovskite heterostructures. Here, we investigate isovalent manganite superlattices, [(La0.7Sr0.3MnO3)n/(Eu0.7Sr0.3MnO3)n]×m, as a route to spatial control over electronic bandwidth and ferromagnetism through the creation of octahedral superstructures. Electron energy loss spectroscopy confirms a uniform Mn valence state throughout the superlattices. In contrast, the presence of modulations of the MnO6 octahedral rotations along the growth direction commensurate with the superlattice period is revealed by scanning transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. We show that the Curie temperatures of the constituent materials can be systematically engineered via the octahedral superstructures leading to a modulated magnetization in samples where the superlattice period is larger than the interfacial octahedral coupling length scale, while a single magnetic transition is observed in the short period superlattices.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2013

Spatially-Resolved Analysis of Glycolipids and Metabolites in Living Synechococcus sp. PCC7002 Using Nanospray Desorption Electrospray Ionization

Microorganisms release a diversity of organic compounds that couple interspecies metabolism, enable communication, or provide benefits to other microbes. Increased knowledge of microbial metabolite production will contribute to understanding of the dynamic microbial world and can potentially lead to new developments in drug discovery, biofuel production, and clinical research. Nanospray desorption electrospray ionization (nano-DESI) is an ambient ionization technique that enables detailed chemical characterization of molecules from a specific location on a surface without special sample pretreatment. Due to its ambient nature, living bacterial colonies growing on agar plates can be rapidly and non-destructively analyzed. We performed spatially resolved nano-DESI analysis of living Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 colonies on agar plates. We use high resolution mass spectrometry and MS/MS analysis of the living Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 colonies to detect metabolites and lipids, and confirm their identities. We found that despite the high salt content of the agar (osmolarity ca. 700 mM), nano-DESI analysis enables detailed characterization of metabolites produced by the colony. Using this technique, we identified several glycolipids found on the living colonies and examined the effect of the age of the colony on the chemical gradient of glucosylglycerol secreted onto agar.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2019

Towards Resolving the Spatial Metabolome with Unambiguous Molecular Annotations in Complex Biological Systems by Coupling Mass Spectrometry Imaging with Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations

We demonstrate the coupling of liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA) to structures for lossless ion manipulations in conjunction with serpentine ultralong path with extending routing (SLIM SUPER) ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) for the unambiguous annotation of important isomeric glycoforms in carbon-fixing communities. A major bottleneck of current mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) methods is their inability to accurately and confidently delineate amongst isomers within a single probing area. Our methodology provides gains in both sensitivity and IM resolution, while simultaneously gaining insight on the spatial distribution of these biological isomers in a mixed organism composed of moss, cyanobacteria and fungus. We envision this methodology will be broadly applicable to other mass spectrometry imaging modalities and invaluable in multiplexed, untargeted, analyses of a single probing location.

Nagy, Gabe↗
DOE OSTI2013

A spatial characterization of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy tidal tails

We measure the spatial density of F turnoff stars in the Sagittarius dwarf tidal stream, from Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, using statistical photometric parallax. We find a set of continuous, consistent parameters that describe the leading Sgr stream's position, direction, and width for 15 stripes in the north Galactic cap, and three stripes in the south Galactic cap. We produce a catalog of stars that has the density characteristics of the dominant leading Sgr tidal stream that can be compared with simulations. We find that the width of the leading (north) tidal tail is consistent with recent triaxial and axisymmetric halo model simulations. The density along the stream is roughly consistent with common disruption models in the north, but possibly not in the south. We explore the possibility that one or more of the dominant Sgr streams has been misidentified, and that one or more of the ''bifurcated'' pieces is the real Sgr tidal tail, but we do not reach definite conclusions. If two dwarf progenitors are assumed, fits to the planes of the dominant and ''bifurcated'' tidal tails favor an association of the Sgr dwarf spheroidal galaxy with the dominant southern stream and the ''bifurcated'' stream in the north. In the north Galactic cap, the best fit Hernquist density profile for the smooth component of the stellar halo is oblate, with a flattening parameter q = 0.53, and a scale length of r {sub 0} = 6.73. The southern data for both the tidal debris and the smooth component of the stellar halo do not match the model fits to the north, although the stellar halo is still overwhelmingly oblate. Finally, we verify that we can reproduce the parameter fits on the asynchronous MilkyWay@home volunteer computing platform.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Spatial organization of cellulose microfibrils and matrix polysaccharides in primary plant cell walls as imaged by multichannel atomic force microscopy

Summary We used atomic force microscopy ( AFM ), complemented with electron microscopy, to characterize the nanoscale and mesoscale structure of the outer (periclinal) cell wall of onion scale epidermis – a model system for relating wall structure to cell wall mechanics. The epidermal wall contains ~100 lamellae, each ~40 nm thick, containing 3.5‐nm wide cellulose microfibrils oriented in a common direction within a lamella but varying by ~30 to 90° between adjacent lamellae. The wall thus has a crossed polylamellate, not helicoidal, wall structure. Montages of high‐resolution AFM images of the newly deposited wall surface showed that single microfibrils merge into and out of short regions of microfibril bundles, thereby forming a reticulated network. Microfibril direction within a lamella did not change gradually or abruptly across the whole face of the cell, indicating continuity of the lamella across the outer wall. A layer of pectin at the wall surface obscured the underlying cellulose microfibrils when imaged by FESEM , but not by AFM . The AFM thus preferentially detects cellulose microfibrils by probing through the soft matrix in these hydrated walls. AFM ‐based nanomechanical maps revealed significant heterogeneity in cell wall stiffness and adhesiveness at the nm scale. By color coding and merging these maps, the spatial distribution of soft and rigid matrix polymers could be visualized in the context of the stiffer microfibrils. Without chemical extraction and dehydration, our results provide multiscale structural details of the primary cell wall in its near‐native state, with implications for microfibrils motions in different lamellae during uniaxial and biaxial extensions.

Zhang, Tian↗
DOE OSTI2016

Spatial atomic layer deposition on flexible porous substrates: ZnO on anodic aluminum oxide films and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} on Li ion battery electrodes

Spatial atomic layer deposition (S-ALD) was examined on flexible porous substrates utilizing a rotating cylinder reactor to perform the S-ALD. S-ALD was first explored on flexible polyethylene terephthalate polymer substrates to obtain S-ALD growth rates on flat surfaces. ZnO ALD with diethylzinc and ozone as the reactants at 50 °C was the model S-ALD system. ZnO S-ALD was then performed on nanoporous flexible anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) films. ZnO S-ALD in porous substrates depends on the pore diameter, pore aspect ratio, and reactant exposure time that define the gas transport. To evaluate these parameters, the Zn coverage profiles in the pores of the AAO films were measured using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). EDS measurements were conducted for different reaction conditions and AAO pore geometries. Substrate speeds and reactant pulse durations were defined by rotating cylinder rates of 10, 100, and 200 revolutions per minute (RPM). AAO pore diameters of 10, 25, 50, and 100 nm were utilized with a pore length of 25 μm. Uniform Zn coverage profiles were obtained at 10 RPM and pore diameters of 100 nm. The Zn coverage was less uniform at higher RPM values and smaller pore diameters. These results indicate that S-ALD into porous substrates is feasible under certain reaction conditions. S-ALD was then performed on porous Li ion battery electrodes to test S-ALD on a technologically important porous substrate. Li{sub 0.20}Mn{sub 0.54}Ni{sub 0.13}Co{sub 0.13}O{sub 2} electrodes on flexible metal foil were coated with Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} using 2–5 Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ALD cycles. The Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ALD was performed in the S-ALD reactor at a rotating cylinder rate of 10 RPM using trimethylaluminum and ozone as the reactants at 50 °C. The capacity of the electrodes was then tested versus number of charge–discharge cycles. These measurements revealed that the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} S-ALD coating on the electrodes enhanced the capacity stability. This S-ALD process could be extended to roll-to-roll operation for the commercialization of S-ALD for coating Li ion battery electrodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cumulus cloud field morphology and spatial patterns derived from high spatial resolution Landsat imagery

Using high-spatial-resolution Landsat MSS imagery, the cumulus cloud morphology, cloud nearest-neighbor distributions, and cloud clumping scales were investigated. It is shown that the cloud-size distribution can be represented by a mixture of two power laws; clouds of diameters less than 1 km have power-law slope range of 1.4-2.3, while larger clouds have slopes from 2.1 to 4.75. The break in power-law slope occurs at the cloud size that makes the largest contribution to cloud cover. Results suggest that larger clouds grow at the expense of smaller clouds. It was also found that the cloud inhomogeneities have significant impact on radiative fluxes.

Sengupta, S. K.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Device for high spatial resolution chemical analysis of a sample and method of high spatial resolution chemical analysis

A system and method for analyzing a chemical composition of a specimen are described. The system can include at least one pin; a sampling device configured to contact a liquid with a specimen on the at least one pin to form a testing solution; and a stepper mechanism configured to move the at least one pin and the sampling device relative to one another. The system can also include an analytical instrument for determining a chemical composition of the specimen from the testing solution. In particular, the systems and methods described herein enable chemical analysis of specimens, such as tissue, to be evaluated in a manner that the spatial-resolution is limited by the size of the pins used to obtain tissue samples, not the size of the sampling device used to solubilize the samples coupled to the pins.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗