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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 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Understanding the structure and composition of recalcitrant oligosaccharides in hydrolysate using high-throughput biotin-based glycome profiling and mass spectrometry

Novel Immunological and Mass Spectrometry Methods for Comprehensive Analysis of Recalcitrant Oligosaccharides in AFEX Pretreated Corn Stover. Lignocellulosic biomass is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel and is extensively used for developing bio-based technologies to produce products such as food, feed, fuel, and chemicals. The key to these technologies is to develop cost competitive processes to convert complex carbohydrates present in plant cell wall to simple sugars such as glucose, xylose, and arabinose. Since lignocellulosic biomass is highly recalcitrant, it must undergo a combination of thermochemical treatment such as Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX), dilute acid (DA), Ionic Liquid (IL) and biological treatment such as enzyme hydrolysis and microbial fermentation to produce desired products. However, when using commercial fungal enzymes during hydrolysis, only 75–85% of the soluble sugars generated are monomeric sugars, while the remaining 15–25% are soluble recalcitrant oligosaccharides that cannot be easily utilized by microorganisms. Previously, we successfully separated and purified the soluble recalcitrant oligosaccharides using a combination of charcoal and celite-based separation followed by size exclusion chromatography and studies their inhibitory properties on enzymes. We discovered that the oligosaccharides with higher degree of polymerization (DP) containing methylated uronic acid substitutions were more recalcitrant towards commercial enzyme mixtures than lower DP and neutral oligosaccharides. Here, we report the use of several complementary techniques that include glycome profiling using plant biomass glycan specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to characterize sugar linkages in plant cell walls and enzymatic hydrolysate, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) using structurally-informative diagnostic peaks offered by negative ion post-secondary decay spectra, gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to characterize oligosaccharide sugar linkages with and without derivatization. Since oligosaccharides (DP 4–20) are small, it is challenging to mobilize these molecules for mAbs binding and characterization. To overcome this problem, we have applied a new biotin-coupling based oligosaccharide immobilization method that successfully tagged most of the low DP soluble oligosaccharides on to a micro-plate surface followed by specific linkage analysis using mAbs in a high-throughput system. This new approach will help develop more advanced versions of future high throughput glycome profiling methods that can be used to separate and characterize oligosaccharides present in biomarkers for diagnostic applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Chemical Upcycling of Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Mixtures to High-Value Surfactants

Conversion of plastic wastes to fatty acids is an attractive means to supplement the sourcing of these high-value, high-volume chemicals. We report a method for transforming polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) at ~80% conversion to fatty acids with number-average molar masses of up to ~700 and 670 daltons, respectively. The process is applicable to municipal PE and PP wastes and their mixtures. Temperature-gradient thermolysis is the key to controllably degrading PE and PP into waxes and inhibiting the production of small molecules. The waxes are upcycled to fatty acids by oxidation over manganese stearate and subsequent processing. PP ..beta..-scission produces more olefin wax and yields higher acid-number fatty acids than does PE ..beta..-scission. We further convert the fatty acids to high-value, large-market-volume surfactants. Industrial-scale technoeconomic analysis suggests economic viability without the need for subsidies.

deconstruction↗
DOE OSTI2021

Advanced mass balance characterization and fractionation of algal biomass composition

Abstract Opportunities associated with biomass production and bioproduct isolation from algae-derived feedstocks are plentiful and promising; however, there are challenges associated with realizing these applications. One of the most important, and often overlooked, challenges is the lack of availability of a strong foundation of compositional analysis methods validated on microalgal biomass. Currently, compositional analysis in algae is dominated by the use of interference-prone methods, a lack of full mass balance accounting, and the use of top-down approaches that bin all unaccounted-for mass into a single category, such as carbohydrates. We present here an approach based on a bottom-up algal biomass characterization aimed at moving towards, and highlighting the importance of, full and accurate mass closure to achieve the maximum economic potential from a sustainable and renewable feedstock. Algal biomass representing three genera, Nannochloropsis , Scenedesmus , and Monoraphidium , was subjected to a cell rupture and fractionation process, followed by detailed characterization of each fraction to determine the partitioning of measured and unknown components. The goal of this work is to identify where the missing components partition, and develop a strategy to close the mass balance or identify the unknowns, while utilizing a rigorous characterization approach for characterizing algal biomass. Although only 75–80% of the biomass was accounted for, the fractionation approach utilized here provides key insight into possible chemical components for future investigations.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Pyrogenic Organic Matter Laboratory Experiment: Aerobic Respiration and Geochemistry from Variably Inundated Stream Sediments (v3)

This dataset supports a broader study examining the effects of variable inundation and pyrogenic organic matter on ecosystem respiration. The dataset provides data generated from a laboratory batch experiment investigating the interaction between variable inundation conditions (wet and dry sediment) and pyrogenic organic matter (burned and unburned treatments). The contents include time series dissolved oxygen, sediment geochemistry data, and field metadata (including qualitative information on instream and river corridor characteristics). This data package was originally published in November 2025. It was updated in April 2026 (v2; new and modified files) and May 2026 (v3; modified files). See the change history section in the readme for more details For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About. In addition to a readme, this data package also includes a file-level metadata (FLMD) file that describes each file and a data dictionary (DD) that describes all column/row headers and variable definitions. This dataset is comprised of (1) file-level metadata; (2) data dictionary; (3) field metadata; (4) international generic sample number (IGSN) mapping file; (5) readme; (6) field protocol; (7) sample name metadata; (8) an environmental context picture for the dry and inundated sampling locations; and (9) a subfolder with sample data from the sediment incubation experiment. The sample data subfolder contains (1) dissolved organic carbon (DOC, measured as non-purgeable organic carbon, NPOC); (2) total nitrogen (TN); (3) gravimetric moisture; (4) partial pressure and production rates of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide; (5) field wet sediment mass, dry sediment mass, water mass, and field wet sediment volume in incubation and sediment NPOC/TN vials; (6) methods codes; (7) respiration rates, pH, and temperature from after the incubation, raw time series dissolved oxygen and temperature, and a subfolder containing associated plots and scripts; (8) ions; (9) FTICR-MS methods; and (10) a subfolder of 12 Tesla (12T) FTICR-MS data. This folder contains the CoreMS processed data and three subfolders, one containing the .xml files, one containing the CoreMS output files, and the other containing instructions and scripts for processing the files in CoreMS (https://github.com/EMSL-Computing/CoreMS). All files are .csv, .pdf, .R, .xml, .html, .Rmd, .py, .cal, .json, or .jpg.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Knudsen Effusion Mass Spectrometry: Principles and Applications

Knudsen Effusion Mass Spectrometry (KEMS) is a well-established technique in physical chemistry. First, we discuss the basic principles of the technique. It is based on a small enclosure which sets up a condensed/vapor near equilibria. A small, well-defined orifice allows the vapor to be sampled a mass spectrometer. Although the number of groups utilizing this method has decrease significantly from its height in 1960s, we will show that it is still useful for many problems in physical chemistry, materials science, geology, and nuclear science. Specific examples illustrate its versatility: Measurement of the enthalpy of formation of HfO(g); measurement of activities in the Ti-Al-O and Ni-Al systems; measurement of activities in several rare earth silicate systems; measurement of vapor pressures above olivine; dating of minerals with K/Ar method; and determination of adsorption/desorption behavior on nuclear fission products on graphite. These are only a small sampling of the many applications of this versatile technique.

Mass spectrometry, thermodynamics, high temperatur↗
NASA NTRS2012

Progress Toward Affordable High Fidelity Combustion Simulations Using Filtered Density Functions for Hypersonic Flows in Complex Geometries

Significant progress has been made in the development of subgrid scale (SGS) closures based on a filtered density function (FDF) for large eddy simulations (LES) of turbulent reacting flows. The FDF is the counterpart of the probability density function (PDF) method, which has proven effective in Reynolds averaged simulations (RAS). However, while systematic progress is being made advancing the FDF models for relatively simple flows and lab-scale flames, the application of these methods in complex geometries and high speed, wall-bounded flows with shocks remains a challenge. The key difficulties are the significant computational cost associated with solving the FDF transport equation and numerically stiff finite rate chemistry. For LES/FDF methods to make a more significant impact in practical applications a pragmatic approach must be taken that significantly reduces the computational cost while maintaining high modeling fidelity. An example of one such ongoing effort is at the NASA Langley Research Center, where the first generation FDF models, namely the scalar filtered mass density function (SFMDF) are being implemented into VULCAN, a production-quality RAS and LES solver widely used for design of high speed propulsion flowpaths. This effort leverages internal and external collaborations to reduce the overall computational cost of high fidelity simulations in VULCAN by: implementing high order methods that allow reduction in the total number of computational cells without loss in accuracy; implementing first generation of high fidelity scalar PDF/FDF models applicable to high-speed compressible flows; coupling RAS/PDF and LES/FDF into a hybrid framework to efficiently and accurately model the effects of combustion in the vicinity of the walls; developing efficient Lagrangian particle tracking algorithms to support robust solutions of the FDF equations for high speed flows; and utilizing finite rate chemistry parametrization, such as flamelet models, to reduce the number of transported reactive species and remove numerical stiffness. This paper briefly introduces the SFMDF model (highlighting key benefits and challenges), and discusses particle tracking for flows with shocks, the hybrid coupled RAS/PDF and LES/FDF model, flamelet generated manifolds (FGM) model, and the Irregularly Portioned Lagrangian Monte Carlo Finite Difference (IPLMCFD) methodology for scalable simulation of high-speed reacting compressible flows.

Drozda, Tomasz G.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Wavelet Analysis of GPR Data for Belowground Mass Assessment of Sorghum Hybrid for Soil Carbon Sequestration

Among many agricultural practices proposed to cut carbon emissions in the next 30 years is the deposition of carbon in soils as plant matter. Adding rooting traits as part of a sequestration strategy would result in significantly increased carbon sequestration. Integrating these traits into production agriculture requires a belowground phenotyping method compatible with high-throughput breeding (i.e., rapid, inexpensive, reliable, and non-destructive). However, methods that fulfill these criteria currently do not exist. We hypothesized that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) could fill this need as a phenotypic selection tool. In this study, we employed a prototype GPR antenna array to scan and discriminate the root and rhizome mass of the perennial sorghum hybrid PSH09TX15. B-scan level time/discrete frequency analyses using continuous wavelet transform were utilized to extract features of interest that could be correlated to the biomass of the subsurface roots and rhizome. Time frequency analysis yielded strong correlations between radar features and belowground biomass (max R −0.91 for roots and −0.78 rhizomes, respectively) These results demonstrate that continued refinement of GPR data analysis workflows should yield an applicable phenotyping tool for breeding efforts in contexts where selection is otherwise impractical.

Wolfe, Matthew↗
DOE OSTI2022

Sustainable bioleaching of lithium-ion batteries for critical materials recovery

The demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has increased substantially over the last few decades due to their longer lifetime, greater resistance to self-discharge, and higher output voltage compared to other battery types. With the global trend of electrifying vehicle fleets, the number of LIBs reaching their end-of-life (EOL) is expected to grow substantially in the next decade. These EOL LIBs represent a significant secondary source of materials (e.g., Li, Co, Ni, Mn) that can be recovered and reused in LIBs or other products. In this study, we developed a bioleaching process that could recover critical materials from EOL LIBs in an economical and environmentally sustainable manner under industrially relevant conditions. Black mass, i.e., cathode-containing powder, prepared from EOL LIBs was leached using a biolixiviant produced from corn stover by Gluconobacter oxydans bacteria. Iron(II) was used as a reducing agent to promote metal dissolution. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) estimated a potential average profit margin of 21% for processing 10,000 t of black mass per year, which represents approximately 30% of the available black mass in the US in 2020. Life cycle assessment (LCA) demonstrated that bioleaching of spent LIBs could be more environmentally sustainable than alternative hydrometallurgical recovery methods such as hydrochloric acid leaching (16-19 kg vs. 43-91 kg CO 2 equivalent global warming potential per kg of recovered cobalt). The TEA results are highly dependent on the cost of black mass production, which varies by EOL LIB collection and transportation costs. Finally, emerging technologies for deactivating used LIBs for fire safety at collection centers will allow the transport of EOL LIBs as non-hazardous materials, lower the cost of preparing black mass and thereby increase economic prospects for EOL LIBs recycling using this approach.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

A universal method to fabricating porous carbon for Li-O 2 battery

The main bottleneck in the application of biomass-based carbon material in energy field is the development of an economical, nanoscale controllable and universal fabrication method. Herein, we demonstrate that a biomass-derived carbon consisting of loose carbon nanosphere clusters could serve as an ideal cathode material for high performance Li-O 2 batteries. The carbon nanomaterial can be prepared from both biomass derivatives and crude biomass by a low cost, facile and nanoscale controllable method. The open slit-shaped hierarchical pore structure endows the electrode sufficient active surface sites and mass transport channels that are not easily asphyxiated by the discharge products. The concentration of oxygenic groups and structure defects on the surface of obtained carbon materials is very low, which minimizes the side reactions associated with carbon decomposition. Finally, the unique pore structure and surface properties of the carbon electrode give rise to a superhigh specific capacity of 20,300 mA h g -1 and an extremely long cycle life which a cyclic capacity retention of 100% is maintained for 543 cycles with current density of 0.2 mA cm -2 at controlled discharge-charge depths of 500 mA h g -1 .

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

W$^+$W$^-$ boson pair production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV

A measurement of the W+W- boson pair production cross section in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV is presented. The data used in this study are collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1. The W+W- candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons). Two methods for reducing background contributions are employed. In the first one, a sequence of requirements on kinematic quantities is applied allowing a measurement of the total production cross section, 117.6±6.8 pb, which agrees well with the theoretical prediction. Fiducial cross sections are also reported for events with zero or one jet, and the change in the zero-jet fiducial cross section with the jet transverse momentum threshold is measured. Normalized differential cross sections are reported within the fiducial region. A second method for suppressing background contributions employs two random forest classifiers. The analysis based on this method includes a measurement of the total production cross section and also a measurement of the normalized jet multiplicity distribution in W+W- events. Finally, a dilepton invariant mass distribution is used to probe for physics beyond the standard model in the context of an effective field theory, and constraints on the presence of dimension-6 operators are derived.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar Thermochemical Carbon Dioxide Splitting Using Ceria and Iron Aluminate Foam Devices and Simulation of a Plant System for Demonstration

An international research project has been undertaken to integrate a unique solar thermal processing reactor system with ceria and iron aluminate as active redox materials for CO2 splitting. Experimental investigations for CO2 splitting were conducted using a solar simulator and tube furnace at Niigata University, followed by demonstrations using a high-flux solar furnace (HFSF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO. Each experimental setup consisted of foam devices composed of reticulated porous ceramic (RPC). The RPC has a full ceria or iron aluminate body. It fabricated using the replica method and subjected to a two-step redox reaction, which iteratively separated a stream of CO2 into O2 and CO. Reactivity was evaluated using CO production per mass of the reactive material. The tubular furnace yielded a CO production of 6.41 mL/g at a reduction temperature of 1600degrees C, showcasing a higher CO production rate and total amount than those obtained from experiments conducted with solar simulators and solar furnace setups. For iron aluminate RPC, the productivity was measured as 3.57 mL/g using HFSF at a reduction temperature of 1450degrees C. These results are somewhat higher than those of the previous experiment at lower reduction temperatures of 1400degrees C-1500degrees C. Additionally, the production of CO in the case of ceria RPC was compared with the steady flow model simulation, which assumed chemical equilibrium at various levels of oxygen partial pressure during the reduction process. On the basis of these results, this study proposes a solar fuel system with an open receiver that uses a high-temperature heat transfer fluid.

carbon dioxide thermochemical splitting↗
DOE OSTI2022

Analysis, identification and confirmation of synthetic opioids using chloroformate chemistry: Retrospective detection of fentanyl and acetylfentanyl in urine and plasma samples by EI-GC-MS and HR-LC-MS

Electron Impact Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (EI-GC-MS) and High Resolution Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HR-LC-MS) have been used in the analysis of products arising from the trichloroethoxycarbonylation of fentanyl and acetylfentanyl in urine and plasma matrices. The method involves the initial extraction of both synthetic opioids separately from the matrices followed by detection of the unique products that arise from their reaction with 2,2,2-trichloroethoxycarbonyl chloride (Troc-Cl), namely Troc-norfentanyl and Troc-noracetylfentanyl. The optimized protocol was successfully evaluated for its efficacy at detecting these species formed from fentanyl and acetylfentanyl when present at low and high levels in urine (fentanyl: 5 and 10 ng/mL and acetylfentanyl: 20 and 100 ng/mL) and plasma (fentanyl: 10 and 20 ng/mL and acetylfentanyl: 50 and 200 ng/mL), values that reflect levels reported in overdose victims. The HR-LC-MS method’s LOQ (limit of quantitation) for the Troc-norfentanyl and Troc-noracetylfentanyl products was determined to be ~10 ng/mL for both species. Even though the superiority in the detection of these species by HR-LC-MS over EI-GC-MS, the latter method proved to be important in the detection of the second product from the reaction, namely 2-phenylethyl chloride that is crucial in the determination of the original opioid. This observation highlights the importance of using complimentary analytical techniques in the analysis of a sample, whether biological or environmental in nature. The method herein serves as a complementary, qualitative confirmation for the presence of a fentanyl in collected urine, plasma and by extension other biological samples amenable to the common extraction procedures described for opioid analysis. More importantly, the method’s main strength comes from its ability to react with unknown fentanyls to yield products that can be not only detected by EI-GC-MS and HR-LC-MS but can then be used to retrospectively identify an unknown fentanyl.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1992

Higgs-Boson Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Cross section calculations are presented for the production of intermediate-mass Higgs bosons produced in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions via two photon fusion. The calculations are performed in position space using Baur's method for folding together the Weizsacker-Williams virtual-photon spectra of the two colliding nuclei. It is found that two photon fusion in nucleus-nucleus collisions is a plausible way of finding intermediate-mass Higgs bosons at the Superconducting Super Collider or the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

Norbury, John W.↗
DOE OSTI2020

From Atom to Engine: Understanding Fundamental Effects of Structure on Combustion Using Tandem Experiment and Computation

The ability to tie structural features to a fuel candidate’s ignition properties provides a path for rational design of advantaged fuels that facilitate higher-efficiency, lower-emitting combustion in engines. The time evolution of a fuel’s radical population directly correlates with global combustion parameters, and because the generated radicals depend on the initial structure and reaction pathways of the fuel molecule, it follows that the molecular structure of a fuel has a direct impact on this cascade, and therefore salient ignition-tied fuel properties. This work aims to understand the impact of structural features in the context of global combustion properties for direct application to emerging engine technologies. Specifically, we highlight the ability to identify potential fuel blendstocks for specific engine strategies by examining and elucidating the radical cascade tied to ignition. A representative subset of alcohols possessing a variety of structural features (e.g. branching, chain length) was selected for study using a robust combination of experimental and computational methods. The approach begins with identifying short-lived radicals and likely abstraction sites upon pyrolysis in a microreactor coupled with photoionization mass spectrometry for direct detection of product species. In tandem, electronic structure calculations were performed to calculate the relevant potential energy surfaces for fuel pyrolysis as well as the subsequent O2 addition-isomerization reactions, which govern ignition behavior. Furthermore, the theoretical energetic and ro-vibrational data are used to calculate rate constants for direct ignition modeling to explore how structural effects impact NTC behavior. The microreactor data combined with electronic structure theory calculations provide a well-informed picture of the reactions relevant to ignition for each fuel in this study, as well as the most likely radicals generated under engine conditions. This thorough fundamental picture of fuel decomposition and ignition chemistry is used to correlate the observed ignition behavior to molecular structural effects.

advanced biofuels↗
DOE OSTI2024

Intensification and Integration of Hydrogen and Ammonia Production

In this project the Colorado School of Mines developed a more efficient method for on-site and on-demand generation of high purity hydrogen from ammonia for hydrogen fueling stations. Used primarily as a fertilizer, ammonia is the world’s highest volume commodity chemical. Having 17.6% hydrogen by mass, it also shows potential as a hydrogen carrier and carbon-free fuel. The team developed new technology to generate fuel cell quality hydrogen from ammonia using a catalytic membrane reactor (CMR). In addition, during the project we pivoted to use this CMR technology for the production of NH3/H2 mixtures for use in clean combustion applications. We demonstrated that these mixtures may serve as a drop-in replacement for conventional hydrocarbons such as natural gas. This project entails development of new catalysts, new membranes, and their innovative integration. This project helped generate >$4M in follow on funding at Mines, and resulted in the formation of a clean tech startup, Blaze Energy Technologies, which has licensed IP developed in this project and is working to commercialize this technology.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sustained Veggie: A Continuous Food Production Comparison

The International Space Station’s Veggie system intermittently supplies the crew with fresh produce. To assess the potential for continuous crop production in Veggie and develop a baseline for future space crop production systems, a 120-day study was conducted to determine methodology for inputs, optimal yield, and crew involvement. ‘Amara’ mustard and ‘Red Russian’ kale were grown as initial crops, followed by ‘Extra Dwarf’ pak choi and shungiku as final crops. Previous grow-outs in Veggie have included harvests at 28-35days after initiation. In this study, a 56-day grow-out with multiple harvests from the same plants was compared to the conventional, single harvest Veggie schedule. Unlike previous Veggie studies which grew all plants simultaneously, this test staggered initiation and harvest, aiming for consistent and increased production. Plant pillows were initiated in pairs weekly and positioned to reduce shading. Completed pillows were immediately replaced with fresh ones. The multi-harvest scheme used fewer pillows, totaling 46% less pillow mass than the single harvest method. Scaled to 56-day increments, yield varied by crop and harvest scheme. ‘Red Russian’ kale yielded similarly across harvest schemes. In the multiple-harvest schedule, ‘Amara’ mustard and shungiku yielded 23% to 25% higher, respectively, while ‘Extra Dwarf’ pak choi had43% lower yield. Microbial analysis of the plants indicated no culturable human pathogens. Microbial load of a given plant appears to depend more on system age than plant age. Across harvest methods, aerobic plate counts from final crops were higher than those of initial crops. This project also considered the complexity of crew involvement in a continuous production scenario. New crew procedures that periodically remove plant material from the Veggie root mat are needed under continuous production to prevent potential pathogens and unpleasant odors. This study supports future space crop production scenarios and was funded by NASA’s Human Research Program.

Jess M Bunchek↗
DOE OSTI2021

Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Refractive Index or Mass Spectrometric Detection for Metabolite Profiling in Lysate-based Cell-free Systems

Engineering cellular metabolism for targeted biosynthesis can require extensive design-build-test-learn (DBTL) cycles as the engineer works around the cell's survival requirements. Alternatively, carrying out DBTL cycles in cell-free environments can accelerate this process and alleviate concerns with host compatibility. A promising approach to cell-free metabolic engineering (CFME) leverages metabolically active crude cell extracts as platforms for biomanufacturing and for rapidly discovering and prototyping modified proteins and pathways. Realizing these capabilities and optimizing CFME performance requires methods to characterize the metabolome of lysate-based cell-free platforms. That is, analytical tools are necessary for monitoring improvements in targeted metabolite conversions and in elucidating alterations to metabolite flux when manipulating lysate metabolism. In this work, metabolite analyses using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with either optical or mass spectrometric detection were applied to characterize metabolite production and flux in E. coli S30 lysates. Specifically, this report describes the preparation of samples from CFME lysates for HPLC analyses using refractive index detection (RID) to quantify the generation of central metabolic intermediates and by-products in the conversion of low-cost substrates (i.e., glucose) to various high-value products. The analysis of metabolite conversion in CFME reactions fed with 13 C-labeled glucose through reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), a powerful tool for characterizing specific metabolite yields and lysate metabolic flux from starting materials, is also presented. Altogether, applying these analytical methods to CFME lysate metabolism enables the advancement of these systems as alternative platforms for executing faster or novel metabolic engineering tasks.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Environmentally Friendly Production of High-Quality and Multifunctional Carbon Quantum Dots from Coal

Researchers from the University of Wyoming and the University of Utah worked jointly to study the valorization of coal to carbon quantum dots (CQDs), a value-added product with a broad spectrum of applications. The CQDs were produced by an environmentally facile hydrothermal method, and the experimental factors influencing the properties of CQDs were investigated. We subsequently explored the applications of CQDs as co-sensitizers of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and photocatalysts of water treatment. As an outlook, techno-economic and environmental analysis studied the feasibility of mass production of CQDs.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗