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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Stabilization of Electrocatalytic Metal Nanoparticles at Metal-Metal Oxide-Graphene Triple Junction Points

Carbon-supported metal catalysts are widely used in heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis. In this paper, we report a novel method to deposit metal catalysts and metal oxide nanoparticles on two-dimensional graphene sheets to improve the catalytic performance and stability of the catalyst materials. The new synthesis method allows indium tin oxide (ITO) nanocrystals to be directly grown on functionalized graphene sheets forming the ITO-graphene hybrids. Pt nanoparticles are then deposited to form a special triple-junction structure (Pt-ITO-graphene). Both experimental study and periodic density functional theory calculations show that the supported Pt nanoparticles are stable at Pt-ITO-graphene triple junction points. The new catalyst materials were tested for oxygen reduction for potential applications in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and they exhibited greatly enhanced stability and activity. The reasons for the high stability and activity of Pt-ITO-graphene are analyzed.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Direct Observation of Xe and Kr Adsorption in a Xe-Selective Microporous Metal–Organic Framework

The cryogenic separation of noble gases is energy-intensive and expensive, especially when low concentrations are involved. Metal organic frameworks containing polarizing groups within their pore spaces are predicted to be efficient Xe/Kr solid state adsorbents but no experimental insights on the nature of the Xe-network interaction is available to date. Here we report a new microporous metal organic framework (designated SBU2) that is selective toward Xe over Kr at ambient conditions, with Xe/Kr selectivity of about 10 and Xe capacity of 37.1 wt% at 298 K. Results of single crystal diffraction show Xe selectivity may be attributed to the specific geometry of the pores, forming cages built with phenyl rings and enriched with polar -OH groups, both serving as strong adsorption sites for polarizable Xe gas. The Xe/Kr separation in SBU2 was investigated with experimental and computational breakthrough methods. These experiments showed that Xe broke through the column after 3 min, followed by Kr at 4.5 min after injection of gases mixture, which confirmed that SBU2 has a real practical potential for separating Xe from Kr. Computational calculations show that SBU2 capacity and adsorption selectivity is comparable to the best-performing unmodified MOFs such as Ni-MOF-74 or Co Formate.

Xenon, Krypton↗
DOE OSTI2014

Oxy-functionalization of Group 9 and 10 transition metal methyl ligands: use of pyridine-based hemi-labile ligands

Hemi-labile ligands (HLLs) are interesting candidates for catalysts since they may facilitate bond activation and bond formation through facile ligand dissociation/association. DFT studies are reported of hemi-labile ligands in conjunction with Group 9 and 10 metals for oxygen atom insertion into metal–methyl bonds. Analysis of the reaction of pyridine- N -oxide with d 8 -[L n M (Me)(THF)] q + (M = Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt; L n = 2-(CH 3 OCH 2 )Py; q = 0 and +1 for Group 9 and 10 metals, respectively; Py = pyridine; THF = tetrahydrofuran) indicates that oxy-insertion for Group 9 complexes occurs with lower free energy barriers than their Group 10 congeners. Analysis of structural changes along the reaction coordinate indicates that the initial oxygen atom transfer and subsequent methyl migration steps are favored by a reduction and increase, respectively, in coordination number. This emphasizes that HLLs could be uniquely positioned to assist both transformations within a single complex. Additionally, such ligands are worthy of experimental study due to their ability to meet the disparate coordination demands for two-step, redox-based oxy-insertion.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Metal-free amidation of ether sp 3 C–H bonds with sulfonamides using PhI(OAc) 2

A selective protocol for the metal-free α-C–H amidation of ethers using sulfonamides and hypervalent iodine oxidants has been developed. The absence of precious metals and the conditions employed make the method environmentally attractive. A number of cyclic and acyclic, linear and branched ethers have been successfully amidated, and a broad sulfonamide scope has been demonstrated. Two unusual reactions, namely the amidation of an unactivated tert-butyl group and a tandem C–C coupling reaction, are further described here.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

A comparative topological study of different metal-metal and metal-ligand interactions in polynuclear organometallic clusters

The existence and characterization of a bond between the Zn atoms in the recently synthesized complex [Zn{sub 2}(η{sup 5}−C{sub 5}Me{sub 5}){sub 2}] (I), as well as between two of the three Ru atoms in [Ru{sub 3}(μ−H){sub 2}(μ{sub 3}−MeImCH)(CO{sub 9}] (Me{sub 2}Im = 1,3-dimethylimidazolin-2-ylidene) (II), are firmly based on low temperature X-ray synchrotron diffraction experiments. The multipolar refinement of the experimental electron densities and their topological analyses by means of the Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theory reveal the details of the Zn-Zn and Ru-Ru bonds, such as their open-shell intermediate character. The results are consistent with a typical metal-metal single σ bond for the former, whereas a delocalized kind of bond involving 5c-6e is present in the latter. In addition, experimental results are compared with theoretical ab initio calculations of the DFT (density functional theory) and MP2 (Mo/ller-Plesset perturbation theory) electron densities, giving a coherent view of the bonding in both complexes. Many other topological properties of both compounds are also studied, in particular the different metal-ligand interactions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

First-order melting of a weak spin-orbit mott insulator into a correlated metal

Herein, the electronic phase diagram of the weak spin-orbit Mott insulator (Sr 1-x La x ) 3 Ir 2 O 7 is determined via an exhaustive experimental study. Upon doping electrons via La substitution, an immediate collapse in resistivity occurs along with a narrow regime of nanoscale phase separation comprised of antiferromagnetic, insulating regions and paramagnetic, metallic puddles persisting until x≈0.04. Continued electron doping results in an abrupt, first-order phase boundary where the Néel state is suppressed and a homogenous, correlated, metallic state appears with an enhanced spin susceptibility and local moments. In conclusion, as the metallic state is stabilized, a weak structural distortion develops and suggests a competing instability with the parent spin-orbit Mott state.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Abundant Metals Give Precious Hydrogenation Performance

Homogeneous catalysts based on precious (noble) metals have had a profound influence on modern synthetic methods, enabling highly selective synthesis of organic compounds but typically require precious metal catalysts (Ru, Rh, Ir, Pt, and Pd). Increasing efforts have been devoted to the design and discovery of homogeneous catalysts using base metals (e.g., Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo). Morris et al. report Fe catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation of C=O bonds. Cobalt catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation of C=C bonds are described by Chirik et al., and Beller et al. report new nanoscale iron catalysts for synthesis of functionalized anilines through hydrogenation of nitroarenes. The author’s work in this area is supported as part of the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy.

catalysis↗
DOE OSTI2023

Metallic Cu Surface Enables Reversible Na Metal Anodes and Stabilizes Anode-Free Sodium Metal Batteries

Anode free Na metal batteries are promising for future energy storage because they not only provide the highest energy densities but also eliminate the need of handling hazardous Na metals during battery manufacturing. However, they suffer from much faster degradation due to strong sensitivities even to trace levels of side reactions. In view of the crucial roles of surface chemistry on modulating electrochemical plating, this work systematically investigated a series of Cu surfaces for Na plating and stripping in the 1.0 M NaPF 6 diglyme electrolyte. Our results suggest that Na plating and stripping on pure Cu surface without Cu oxide species exhibits much better reversibility and smaller overpotentials across a wide range of current densities, especially for the first plating/stripping cycle. The high performance includes consistently higher than 99.8% Faradaic efficiencies, much more stable interfacial resistance, and negligible formation of mossy Na after 500 cycles. This improved performance can be explained based on the stronger Na-Cu affinity compared with the Na-CuO affinity. Anode-free Na metal batteries equipped with high-capacity sodium vanadium phosphate cathodes and pure Cu current collector exhibited at least 70% capacity retention for 100 cycles.

Electrochemistry↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hydrated Metal and Metal-Nitrate Complexes in Water: Full Lanthanide(III) Series plus Miscellaneous Metal Ions

This is a dataset of hydrated metal complexes and metal–nitrate hydrated complexes intended for public use, reproducibility, and downstream structural analysis. A key feature is coverage across the full lanthanide(III) series (La–Lu), enabling systematic comparisons of coordination motifs and bonding trends across the entire lanthanide sequence. In addition to the lanthanides, the dataset also includes other metal ions such as UO2(VI), Fe(II), and Fe(III). The dataset provides optimized geometries for hydrated and nitrate-containing hydrated complexes, together with representative ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) trajectories saved in standard XYZ formats. The accompanying NWChem input decks enable reproduction of the reported calculations and provide a starting point for extending the simulations to related coordination environments. Computationally, DFT calculations employ the B3LYP functional with DFT-D3BJ dispersion corrections and a COSMO continuum solvent model (dielectric constant 78.4) to represent solvation beyond the explicitly treated first hydration shell. AIMD simulations are performed with the NWChem qmd module at 298 K, integrating nuclear motion with the velocity-Verlet algorithm and controlling temperature using a Nosé–Hoover thermostat. Trajectories are approximately 4.8 ps in length and are used primarily to assess short-time stability of candidate coordination motifs, including (for lanthanides) differences between 8- versus 9-water coordination and comparisons between nitrate-bound and nitrate-free hydrated complexes.

Dinpajooh, Mohammadhasan [Pacific Northwest Nation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrating the Fields of Catalysis: Active Site Engineering in Metal Cluster, Metal Organic Framework and Metal Single Site

Research evolved using nanoparticles synthesized and characterized under reaction conditions opened the door to study all three fields of catalysis: heterogeneous, homogenous, and enzyme. Fundamental studies of catalytic reactions ranging from hydrogenation to understand Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and isomerization ultimately led to the integration of three fields of catalysis. Our recent work on bridging heterogeneous, homogenous, and enzymatic catalysis was present including functionalization of dendrimer encapsulated metal clusters surface for lactonization, active site engineering in metal organic framework catalysts for methanol production and oligomerization, and single site catalyst for hydrogen production. We envision that the combination of active site engineering and unifying fields of catalysis could be applied to solve practical issues of science-based technology and develop new fields useful in energy research.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Understanding Small-Molecule Interactions in Metal-Organic Frameworks: Coupling Experiment with Theory

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained much attention as next generation porous media for various applications, especially gas separations/storage and catalysis. New MOFs are regularly reported; however, to develop better materials in a timely manner for specific applications, the interactions between guest molecules and the internal surface of the framework must first be understood. In this review, we present a combined experimental and theoretical approach that proves essential for the elucidation of small-molecule interactions in a model MOF system known as M 2 (dobdc) (dobdc 4– = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, or Zn), a material whose adsorption properties can be readily tuned via chemical substitution. Here, we additionally show that the study of extensive families like this one can provide a platform to test the efficacy and accuracy of developing computational methodologies in slightly varying chemical environments, a task that is necessary for their evolution into viable, robust tools for screening large numbers of materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗