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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 1,441 records · Page 80
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Hole Transport in Nonstoichiometric and Doped Wüstite

We propose ways to enhance the conductivity of wustite (i.e., naturally p-type FeO), a visible-light-absorbing, inexpensive, abundant, and nontoxic potential alternative material for solar energy conversion devices. Unfortunately, the conversion efficiency of FeO is inhibited by its low hole conductivity. Increasing the iron vacancy concentration or adding p-type dopants improves FeO conductivity by increasing the number of holes; however, it is not known which strategy introduces larger energy traps that would hinder hole conductivity. Here we employ the small polaron model along with ab initio calculations on electrostatically embedded clusters to analyze the local trapping effects of iron vacancies and several substitutional p-type dopants that are soluble in FeO, including copper, nitrogen, lithium, and sodium, and also hydrogen as an interstitial dopant for comparison. We find that vacancies create stronger traps than dopants and that copper and nitrogen dopants form deeper traps than lithium, sodium, or hydrogen. Furthermore, hydrogen repels the hole and substantially decreases the trap formed by an iron vacancy. Because of the shallower traps formed compared to vacancies, lithium-, sodium-, or hydrogen-doped, nanostructured or alloyed FeO may be worth evaluating as a p-type semiconductor for solar energy conversion applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Mechanisms of Photodesorption of Br Atoms from CsBr Surfaces

We have studied desorption of Br atoms from thin crystalline CsBr films grown on KBr(100) and LiF(100) induced by ultraviolet laser irradiation at photon energies of 6.4 and 7.9 eV. The mechanisms of Br atom desorption were modeled using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The experimental data and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the sub-bandgap photoexcitation at 6.4 eV excites predominantly the CsBr surface leading to desorption of neutral Br-atoms with a hyperthermal kinetic energy distribution. Excitation above the bandgap at 7.9 eV leads to desorption of Br atoms with both thermal and hyperthermal energies. The results of the theoretical modeling suggest that desorption of Br atoms with thermal velocities originates from subsurface exciton decay which produces interstitial Br atoms that subsequently diffuse to the CsBr surface. Hyperthermal desorption can be explained by the exciton-based desorption model. The calculated maximum kinetic energy of emitted Br atoms agrees well with the experimental data.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2014

Shell Model for Atomistic Simulation of Lithium Diffusion in Mixed Mn/Ti Oxides

Mixed Mn/Ti oxides present attractive physicochemical properties such as their ability to accommodate Li for application in Li-ion batteries. In this work, atomic parameters for Mn were developed to extend an existing shell model of the Li-Ti-O system and allow simulations of pure and lithiated Mn and mixed Mn/Ti oxide polymorphs. The shell model yielded good agreement with experimentally-derived structures (i.e. lattice parameters and inter-atomic distances) and represented an improvement over existing potential models. The shell model was employed in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Li diffusion in the 1×1 c direction channels of LixMn1 yTiyO2 with the rutile structure, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1. In the infinite dilution limit, the arrangement of Mn and Ti ions in the lattice was found to have a significant effect on the activation energy for Li diffusion in the c channels due to the destabilization of half of the interstitial octahedral sites. Anomalous diffusion was demonstrated for Li concentrations as low as x = 0.125, with a single Li ion positioned in every other c channel. Further increase in Li concentration showed not only the substantial effect of Li-Li repulsive interactions on Li mobility but also their influence on the time dependence of Li diffusion. The results of the MD simulations can inform intrinsic structure-property relationships for the rational design of improved electrode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2013

Modeling aerosols and their interactions with shallow cumuli during the 2007 CHAPS field study

The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem) is used to simulate relationships between aerosols and clouds in the vicinity of Oklahoma City during the June 2007 Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS). The regional scale simulation completed using 2 km horizontal grid spacing evaluates four important relationships between aerosols and shallow cumulus clouds observed during CHAPS. First, the model reproduces the trends of higher nitrate volume fractions in cloud droplet residuals compared to interstitial non-activated aerosols, as measured using the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer. Comparing simulations with cloud chemistry turned on and off, we show that nitric acid vapor uptake by cloud droplets explains the higher nitrate content of cloud droplet residuals. Second, as documented using an offline code, both aerosol water and other inorganics (OIN), which are related to dust and crustal emissions, significantly affect predicted aerosol optical properties. Reducing the OIN content of wet aerosols by 50% significantly improves agreement of model predictions with measurements of aerosol optical properties. Third, the simulated hygroscopicity of aerosols is too high as compared to their hygroscopicity derived from cloud condensation nuclei and particle size distribution measurements, indicating uncertainties associated with simulating size-dependent chemical composition and treatment of aerosol mixing state within the model. Fourth, the model reasonably represents the observations of the first aerosol indirect effect where pollutants in the vicinity of Oklahoma City increase cloud droplet number concentrations and decrease the droplet effective radius. While previous studies have often focused on cloud-aerosol interactions in stratiform and deep convective clouds, this study highlights the ability of regional-scale models to represent some of the important aspects of cloud-aerosol interactions associated with fields of short-lived shallow cumuli.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Silicon, Carbon, and Sulfur on Structure of Liquid Iron and Implications for Structure-Property Relations in Liquid Iron-Light Element Alloys

Planetary cores are considered to be composed of iron (Fe) and light elements. Extensive studies on structure and properties of crystalline Fe–light element alloys have been carried out to discuss composition and structure of the solid inner core. In contrast, structure and properties of liquid Fe–light element alloys, which are important to discuss nature and dynamics of the liquid outer core, remain poorly understood. Here we conducted series of liquid structure measurements to systematically understand effect of silicon (Si), carbon (C), and sulfur (S) on structure of liquid Fe. We found that incorporation of Si in liquid Fe shortens the nearest (r 1 ) and second (r 2 ) neighbor distances, while incorporation of C and small amount of S expands these distances. The different structural behavior is interpreted in view of different light–element incorporation mechanisms: substitutional incorporation of Si and interstitial incorporation of C and S. All light elements lower density of liquid Fe regardless of shortening or expansion of the r 1 and r 2 distances, while P–wave velocities of liquid Fe–light element alloys show linear increase with shortening of the r 1 and r 2 . The different light–element incorporation behavior in the structure of liquid Fe and the resultant variation in the properties of liquid Fe–light element alloys should be important in understanding behavior of liquid Fe–light element alloys in the planetary cores.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Using SF 6 and Xe to Monitor Gas Migration Through Explosion-Generated Fracture Networks

Here we describe a field study where tracer gas was injected into a subsurface cavity created by a small chemical explosion beneath the water table. The main objective of the study is to compare the migration of sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) and xenon (Xe) through an explosion-generated fracture network and to study the influence of ground water on gas transport. A mixture of tracer gases (50% of SF 6 and 50% of Xe) was injected on 31 October 2018 and gas sampling continued until 8 November 2018. We observe similar trends in SF 6 and Xe concentrations at four ground surface sampling sites. The changes in the SF 6 /Xe ratios with time show that more SF 6 than Xe is observed during the barometric pressure lows when the absolute measured concentrations are highest. Conversely, the ratio SF 6 /Xe is less than 1 during the high-pressure intervals when absolute measured concentrations are low. The results of the experiment suggest that during barometric pressure lows the tracer is migrating to the surface primarily by advective gas phase transport, whereas during barometric pressure highs, advection is suppressed and near-surface evaporation of interstitial pore fluid with tracer dissolved in it becomes more important. Thus, the results of the experiment show that the gas concentrations at the surface are controlled by the combined effects of the gas dissolution into pore water and the barometric pressure fluctuations.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

High Free-Tropospheric Aitken-Mode Aerosol Concentrations Buffer Cloud Droplet Concentrations in Large-Eddy Simulations of Precipitating Stratocumulus

A new Aitken mode aerosol microphysics scheme is developed for a large eddy simulation model in order to better investigate cloud-aerosol interactions in the marine boundary layer and to study the Aitken buffering hypothesis of McCoy et al. (2021), https://doi.org/10.1029/2020jd033529. This scheme extends the single-mode two-moment prognostic aerosol scheme of Berner et al. (2013), https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12549-2013. Seven prognostic variables represent accumulation and Aitken log-normal aerosol modes in air and droplets as well as 3 gas species. Scavenging of interstitial and other unactivated aerosol by cloud and rain drops are treated using the scheme described in Berner et al. (2013), https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12549-2013. The scheme includes coagulation of unactivated aerosol and a simple chemistry model with gas phase H 2 SO 4 , SO 2 , and DMS as prognostic variables to capture basic influences of sulfur chemistry on the model aerosols. Nucleation of H 2 SO 4 aerosol particles from gas-phase H 2 SO 4 is neglected. A deep, precipitating stratocumulus case (VAMOS Ocean Cloud Atmosphere Land Study RF06) is used to test the new scheme. The presence of the Aitken mode aerosol increases the cloud droplet concentration through activation of the larger Aitken particles and delays the creation of an ultraclean, strongly precipitating cumulus state. Scavenging of unactivated accumulation and Aitken particles by cloud and precipitation droplets accelerates the collapse. Increasing either the above-inversion Aitken concentration or the surface Aitken flux increases the Aitken population in the boundary layer and prevents the transition to an ultraclean state.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development and Evaluation of E3SM‐MOSAIC: Spatial Distributions and Radiative Effects of Nitrate Aerosol

Abstract Nitrate aerosol plays an important role in affecting regional air quality as well as Earth's climate. However, it is not well represented or even neglected in many global climate models. In this study, we couple the Model for Simulating Aerosol Interactions and Chemistry (MOSAIC) module with the four‐mode version of the Modal Aerosol Module (MAM4) in DOE's Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 2 (E3SMv2) to simulate nitrate aerosol and its radiative effects. We find that nitrate aerosol simulated by E3SMv2‐MAM4‐MOSAIC is sensitive to the treatment of gaseous HNO 3 transfer to/from interstitial particles related to accommodation coefficients of HNO 3 ( ) on dust and non‐dust particles. We compare three different treatments of HNO 3 transfer: (a) a treatment (MTC_SLOW) that uses a low in the mass transfer coefficient (MTC) calculation; (b) a dust‐weighted MTC treatment (MTC_WGT) that uses a high on non‐dust particles; and (c) a dust‐weighted MTC treatment that also splits coarse mode aerosols into the coarse dust and sea salt sub‐modes in MOSAIC (MTC_SPLC). MTC_WGT and MTC_SPLC increase the global annual mean (2005–2014) nitrate burden from 0.096 (MTC_SLOW) to 0.237 and 0.185 Tg N, respectively, mostly in the coarse mode. MTC_WGT and MTC_SPLC also produce stronger nitrate direct radiative forcing (−0.048 and −0.051 W m −2 , respectively) and indirect forcing (−0.33 and −0.35 W m −2 , respectively) than MTC_SLOW (−0.021 and −0.24 W m −2 ). MTC_WGT and MTC_SPLC improve nitrate surface concentrations over remote oceans based on limited observations and vertical profiles of nitrate concentrations against aircraft measurements below 400 hPa.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantifying Streambed Grain Size, Uncertainty, and Hydrobiogeochemical Parameters Using Machine Learning Model YOLO

Abstract Streambed grain sizes control river hydro‐biogeochemical (HBGC) processes and functions. However, measuring their quantities, distributions, and uncertainties is challenging due to the diversity and heterogeneity of natural streams. This work presents a photo‐driven, artificial intelligence (AI)‐enabled, and theory‐based workflow for extracting the quantities, distributions, and uncertainties of streambed grain sizes from photos. Specifically, we first trained You Only Look Once, an object detection AI, using 11,977 grain labels from 36 photos collected from nine different stream environments. We demonstrated its accuracy with a coefficient of determination of 0.98, a Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.98, and a mean absolute relative error of 6.65% in predicting the median grain size of 20 ground‐truth photos representing nine typical stream environments. The AI is then used to extract the grain size distributions and determine their characteristic grain sizes, including the 10th, 50th, 60th, and 84th percentiles, for 1,999 photos taken at 66 sites within a watershed in the Northwest US. The results indicate that the 10th, median, 60th, and 84th percentiles of the grain sizes follow log‐normal distributions, with most likely values of 2.49, 6.62, 7.68, and 10.78 cm, respectively. The average uncertainties associated with these values are 9.70%, 7.33%, 9.27%, and 11.11%, respectively. These data allow for the computation of the quantities, distributions, and uncertainties of streambed HBGC parameters, including Manning's coefficient, Darcy‐Weisbach friction factor, top layer interstitial velocity magnitude, and nitrate uptake velocity. Additionally, major sources of uncertainty in grain sizes and their impact on HBGC parameters are examined.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Abundance and Sources of Ice Nucleating Particles Within Alaskan Ice Fog

Abstract The Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) field campaign included deployment of a suite of atmospheric measurements in January–February 2022 with the goal of better understanding atmospheric processes and pollution under cold and dark conditions in Fairbanks, Alaska. We report on measurements of particle composition, particle size, ice nucleating particle (INP) composition, and INP size during an ice fog period (29 January–3 February). During this period, coarse particulate matter (PM 10 ) concentrations increased by 150% in association with a decrease in air temperature, a stronger temperature inversion, and relatively stagnant conditions. Results also show a 18%–78% decrease in INPs during the ice fog period, indicating that particles had activated into the ice fog via nucleation. Peroxide and heat treatments performed on INPs indicated that, on average, the largest contributions to the INP population were heat‐labile (potentially biological, 63%), organic (31%), then inorganic (likely dust, 6%). Measurements of levoglucosan and bulk and single‐particle composition corroborate the presence of dust and aerosols from combustion sources. Heat‐labile and organic INPs decreased during the peak period of the ice fog, indicating those were preferentially activated, while inorganic INPs increased, suggesting they remained as interstitial INPs. In general, INP concentrations were unexpectedly high in Fairbanks compared to other locations in the Arctic during winter. The fact that these INPs likely facilitated ice fog formation in Fairbanks has implications for other high latitude locations subject to the hazards associated with ice fog.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences↗
DOE OSTI2016

Hydrogenated vacancies lock dislocations in aluminium

Due to its high diffusivity, hydrogen is often considered a weak inhibitor or even a promoter of dislocation movements in metals and alloys. By quantitative mechanical tests in an environmental transmission electron microscope, here we demonstrate that after exposing aluminium to hydrogen, mobile dislocations can lose mobility, with activating stress more than doubled. On degassing, the locked dislocations can be reactivated under cyclic loading to move in a stick-slip manner. However, relocking the dislocations thereafter requires a surprisingly long waiting time of ~10 3 s, much longer than that expected from hydrogen interstitial diffusion. Both the observed slow relocking and strong locking strength can be attributed to superabundant hydrogenated vacancies, verified by our atomistic calculations. In conclusion, vacancies therefore could be a key plastic flow localization agent as well as damage agent in hydrogen environment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Enhancing radiation tolerance by controlling defect mobility and migration pathways in multicomponent single-phase alloys

A grand challenge in material science is to understand the correlation between intrinsic properties and defect dynamics. Radiation tolerant materials are in great demand for safe operation and advancement of nuclear and aerospace systems. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on microstructural and nanoscale features to mitigate radiation damage, this study demonstrates enhancement of radiation tolerance with the suppression of void formation by two orders magnitude at elevated temperatures in equiatomic single-phase concentrated solid solution alloys, and more importantly, reveals its controlling mechanism through a detailed analysis of the depth distribution of defect clusters and an atomistic computer simulation. The enhanced swelling resistance is attributed to the tailored interstitial defect cluster motion in the alloys from a long-range one-dimensional mode to a short-range three-dimensional mode, which leads to enhanced point defect recombination. Finally, the results suggest design criteria for next generation radiation tolerant structural alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Damage-tolerant nanotwinned metals with nanovoids under radiation environments

Material performance in extreme radiation environments is central to the design of future nuclear reactors. Radiation induces significant damage in the form of dislocation loops and voids in irradiated materials, and continuous radiation often leads to void growth and subsequent void swelling in metals with low stacking fault energy. Here we show that by using in situ heavy ion irradiation in a transmission electron microscope, pre-introduced nanovoids in nanotwinned Cu efficiently absorb radiation-induced defects accompanied by gradual elimination of nanovoids, enhancing radiation tolerance of Cu. In situ studies and atomistic simulations reveal that such remarkable self-healing capability stems from high density of coherent and incoherent twin boundaries that rapidly capture and transport point defects and dislocation loops to nanovoids, which act as storage bins for interstitial loops. This study describes a counterintuitive yet significant concept: deliberate introduction of nanovoids in conjunction with nanotwins enables unprecedented damage tolerance in metallic materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Precipitation of binary quasicrystals along dislocations

Dislocations in crystals naturally break the symmetry of the bulk, introducing local atomic configurations with symmetries such as fivefold rings. But dislocations do not usually nucleate aperiodic structure along their length. Here we demonstrate the formation of extended binary quasicrystalline precipitates with Penrose-like random-tiling structures, beginning with chemical ordering within the pentagonal structure at cores of prismatic dislocations in Mg–Zn alloys. Atomic resolution observations indicate that icosahedral chains centered along [0001] pillars of Zn interstitial atoms are formed templated by the fivefold rings at dislocation cores. They subsequently form columns of rhombic and elongated hexagonal tiles parallel to the dislocation lines. Quasicrystalline precipitates are formed by random tiling of these rhombic and hexagonal tiles. Such precipitation may impact dislocation glide and alloy strength.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hidden structural and chemical order controls lithium transport in cation-disordered oxides for rechargeable batteries

Structure plays a vital role in determining materials properties. In lithium ion cathode materials, the crystal structure defines the dimensionality and connectivity of interstitial sites, thus determining lithium ion diffusion kinetics. In most conventional cathode materials that are well-ordered, the average structure as seen in diffraction dictates the lithium ion diffusion pathways. Here, we show that this is not the case in a class of recently discovered high-capacity lithium-excess rocksalts. An average structure picture is no longer satisfactory to understand the performance of such disordered materials. Cation short-range order, hidden in diffraction, is not only ubiquitous in these long-range disordered materials, but fully controls the local and macroscopic environments for lithium ion transport. Our discovery identifies a crucial property that has previously been overlooked and provides guidelines for designing and engineering cation-disordered cathode materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Proton irradiation-decelerated intergranular corrosion of Ni-Cr alloys in molten salt

The effects of ionizing radiation on materials often reduce to "bad news". Radiation damage usually leads to detrimental effects such as embrittlement, accelerated creep, phase instability, and radiation-altered corrosion. Here we report that proton irradiation decelerates intergranular corrosion of Ni-Cr alloys in molten fluoride salt at 650 °C. We demonstrate this by showing that the depth of intergranular voids resulting from Cr leaching into the salt is reduced by proton irradiation alone. Interstitial defects generated from irradiation enhance diffusion, more rapidly replenishing corrosion-injected vacancies with alloy constituents, thus playing the crucial role in decelerating corrosion. Our results show that irradiation can have a positive impact on materials performance, challenging our view that radiation damage usually results in negative effects.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Mechanistic insight into copper cation exchange in cadmium selenide semiconductor nanocrystals using X-ray absorption spectroscopy

In terms of producing new advances in sustainable nanomaterials, cation exchange (CE) of post-processed colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) has opened new avenues towards producing non-toxic energy materials via simple chemical techniques. The main processes governing CE can be explained by considering hard/soft acid/base theory, but the detailed mechanism of CE, however, has been debated and has been attributed to both diffusion and vacancy processes. In this work, we have performed in situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy to further understand the mechanism of the CE of copper in solution phase CdSe NCs. The x-ray data indicates clear isosbestic points, suggestive of cooperative behavior as previously observed via optical spectroscopy. Examination of the extended x-ray absorption fine structure data points to the observation of interstitial impurities during the initial stages of CE, suggesting the diffusion process is the fundamental mechanism of CE in this system.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗