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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Unlocking the Future of Aircraft Manufacturing: The Environmental Benefits of Laser Patterning for Surface Enhancement of Aircraft-Certified Alloys

Surface protection and functional modification of aircraft-certified aluminum alloys are essential for corrosion resistance, durability, and long-term airworthiness. At the same time, increasingly restrictive environmental regulations motivate the development of alternatives to legacy wet-chemical surface treatments. This study presents an integrated assessment of ultrafast femtosecond laser surface texturing as a surface functionalization approach for Aluminum 6061 alloys within an aerospace manufacturing and sustainability context. Ultrashort-pulse laser processing enables controlled micro- and nano-scale surface topographical modification with limited thermal impact, allowing adjustment of wettability and surface functionality while preserving bulk material integrity. As a dry and contactless process, femtosecond laser treatment eliminates the use of hazardous chemicals, reduces consumable inputs, and generates minimal secondary waste. A streamlined cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment conducted in accordance with ISO 14040/14044 indicates a lower global-warming potential per functional unit compared with conventional surface treatments, including anodization, plasma-assisted coatings, and organic coating systems. Complementary qualitative analyses addressing environmental health and safety, supply-chain risk, and ESG alignment indicate potential advantages related to occupational safety, regulatory compliance, waste management, and end-of-life recyclability. The investigation is performed on planar Aluminum 6061 reference surfaces with a treated area of 25 mm 2 , providing a controlled laboratory-scale basis for analyzing process behavior, functional surface modification, and associated environmental metrics. Within this defined scope, the results support further evaluation of femtosecond laser surface texturing as a surface engineering option for future aerospace manufacturing.

corrosion resistance↗
DOE OSTI2024

Depolymerizable and recyclable luminescent polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies

Luminescent polymers are of great interest in a number of photonic technologies, including electroluminescence, bioimaging, medical diagnosis, bio-stimulation and security signage. Incorporating depolymerizability and recyclability into luminescent polymers is pivotal for promoting their sustainability and minimizing their environmental impacts at the end of the product lifecycle, but existing strategies often compromise the light-emitting efficiencies. Here, in this study, we develop a strategy that utilizes cleavable moiety to create depolymerizable and recyclable thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) polymers without compromising their high light-emitting efficiencies. The electroluminescent devices based on the TADF polymers achieved a high external quantum efficiency of up to 15.1 %. The TADF polymers can be depolymerized under either mild acidic or heating conditions, with precise control of the kinetics, and the obtained pure monomers can potentially be isolated and repolymerized for subsequent life applications. This work promotes the end-of-life environmental friendliness and circularity of luminescent materials, paving the way to a sustainable photonic industry. Developing depolymerizable and recyclable polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies is of vital importance for sustainable photonic technologies, but remains challenging. Here the authors design a strategy to develop such polymers based on the use of controllable cleavable moiety.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Upcycling Polycrystalline LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 to High-Performance Large-Grained LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 via Simplified Polyol-Mediated Recycling

The escalating demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) necessitates advanced recycling strategies that can address both resource scarcity and environmental impact. While conventional hydrometallurgy shows promise, it is challenged by complexity, impurity management, and environmental footprint. Here, we report a strategic polyol-metallurgy recycling process that efficiently transforms spent polycrystalline LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 (NMC111) into high-performance large-grained LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC622), offering dual benefits of compositional upcycling and morphology upgradation. Our approach leverages a polyol system with meticulous control over nickel salt addition and the precipitation process. This yields upcycled cathode materials possessing excellent structural integrity, well-defined large-grained particles (5-10?..mu..m), and robust electrochemical performance, including a specific capacity of ~182 mAh g-1 at C/10 and 88.0% capacity retention after 100 cycles. This facile and multifunctional process provides an environmental-friendly pathway for advanced cathode recycling, significantly contributing to a circular economy for LIBs through precise control over critical material attributes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Twinac: initiation of a community-driven accelerator digital twin framework

We present the initiation of a community-driven framework for the integration of accelerator digital twins into control systems: Twinac. Few facilities have fully integrated accelerator digital twins like at Cornell’s CHESS. Many facilities have active research to employ surrogate models to aid in operational decisions like at Argonne’s ALS, MSU’s FRIB, SLAC’s LCLS-II, and Fermilab’s FAST/IOTA, PIP-II, and main complex. To lower the barrier to entry for all accelerator facilities to build and benefit from a digital twin of their own accelerators, we propose the following software framework. Twinac will provide the capability to compose one’s own digital twin using reusable components engineered at other facilities. With this model in place, Twinac will also support tools for (1) predictive maintenance systems; (2) discovery of correlated but uncontrolled environmental factors, like seasonal temperature variations causing performance changes on power supplies, magnets, etc.; and (3) prototyping and updating sophisticated optimization and controls algorithms. The Twinac framework will enable sharing and simplified deployment of modeled components and control algorithms at all facilities. With an inter-facility team to build and support the Twinac framework, it will be easy to publish and try out the latest advancements at one’s own facility.

Miceli, Tia [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2025

Coupling Remote Sensing With a Process Model for the Simulation of Rangeland Carbon Dynamics

Rangelands provide significant environmental benefits through many ecosystem services, which may include soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, quantifying SOC stocks and monitoring carbon (C) fluxes in rangelands are challenging due to the considerable spatial and temporal variability tied to rangeland C dynamics as well as limited data availability. We developed the Rangeland Carbon Tracking and Management (RCTM) system to track long-term changes in SOC and ecosystem C fluxes by leveraging remote sensing inputs and environmental variable data sets with algorithms representing terrestrial C-cycle processes. Bayesian calibration was conducted using quality-controlled C flux data sets obtained from 61 Ameriflux and NEON flux tower sites from Western and Midwestern US rangelands to parameterize the model according to dominant vegetation classes (perennial and/or annual grass, grass-shrub mixture, and grass-tree mixture). The resulting RCTM system produced higher model accuracy for estimating annual cumulative gross primary productivity (GPP) (R 2 > 0.6, RMSE <390 g C m -2 ) relative to net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 (NEE) (R 2 > 0.4, RMSE <180 g C m -2 ). Model performance in estimating rangeland C fluxes varied by season and vegetation type. The RCTM captured the spatial variability of SOC stocks with R 2 = 0.6 when validated against SOC measurements across 13 NEON sites. Model simulations indicated slightly enhanced SOC stocks for the flux tower sites during the past decade, which is mainly driven by an increase in precipitation. Future efforts to refine the RCTM system will benefit from long-term network-based monitoring of vegetation biomass, C fluxes, and SOC stocks.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

AI-Accelerated Strategies and Solutions in Environmental Technology (AI-ASSET)

ALTEMIS Present Day • An integrated network of different sensing technologies designed to monitor a complex and evolving hydrogeochemical system • Key Concept: Use controlling (proxy) variables measured by sensors to predict plume anomalies before they occur • 80% Reduction in wells • $12-20K/year/well saved • Reduced sampling frequency • But how did we get here?

De La Noval, Alejandro J. [Savannah River National↗
DOE OSTI2024

Low Yield Nuclear Monitoring Physics Experiment 1 – Integrated Data Acquisition System Design and Initial Observations

The report documents the design of the Integrated Data AcQuisition (IDAQ) system and observations recorded during the first in a series of underground chemical explosions conducted on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) in southern Nevada. Experiments are funded as part of Low Yield Nuclear Monitoring (LYNM) research and development within the United States National Nuclear Security Administration NA-22 nuclear non-proliferation program. The series is part of the broader Physical Experiment 1 (PE1) being conducted in and around the P-tunnel facility on the NNSS. Each explosive experiment utilizes several tons of comp-B to generate signals recorded by a broad suite of instrumentation. The IDAQ serves as the backbone for all subsurface instrumentation providing precise time synchronization, remote control, data exfiltration and backup, along with recording several sensing modalities throughout the underground complex that includes ground motion, environmental conditions, and electromagnetic signals.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2026

Accelerating Surface Radiation Content to Investigate the Impact of Radon Progeny on Superconducting Qubits

Ionizing radiation in the form of $α$, $β$, $γ$, and additional high-energy particles can induce decoherence via phonon and quasiparticle poisoning in superconducting qubits. Recent studies have explored this effect using cosmic rays or controlled radioactive sources held in the proximity of a qubit package, and have concluded that reductions in such ``external'' environmental radiation may benefit stable operation of qubit devices. However, the effect of long-lived, unstable daughters of $^{222}$Rn that ``plate out'' directly on device and packaging surfaces has not been as extensively explored. This plate-out process, well-known to the dark matter direct detection field, occurs throughout the fabrication and testing lifecycle of a device and (separately) its packaging, and produces a local source of $α$-decays which can remain active for decades. As this scales with chip area, understanding and managing this source of ionizing radiation is relevant for successfully scaling quantum computing architectures to larger numbers of qubits in a radiation-robust way. We present a setup capable of accelerating and enhancing radon daughter plateout by a factor of $7\times10^4$ over ambient, in order to study, \textit{in situ}, the impact of these events on superconducting qubits. We also provide outlook on the potential impact of this source of ionizing radiation on current and future qubit arrays.

Poudel, Sagar S. [South Dakota Sch. Mines Tech.]↗
DOE OSTI2025

Encapsulation of Monolayer 2D Materials Using Kinetic Energy-Controlled Pulsed Laser Deposition

The integration of monolayer (ML) two-dimensional (2D) materials into next-generation microelectronics, optoelectronics, and sensors is hindered by their sensitivity to environmental exposure. Deposition of additional layers for encapsulation or growth on ML 2D materials by versatile but energetic plasma techniques such as pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has not been considered at the monolayer level because of potential damage caused by hyperthermal species with kinetic energies (KEs) exceeding the threshold displacement energy (TDE) of the ML. Here, we describe a general strategy to understand and mitigate damage during PLD by reducing the incident KE of ablated species below the TDE of the 2D monolayer using background gas collisions. Ion flux diagnostics, combined with in situ Raman spectroscopy of monolayer graphene during PLD of amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) as a dielectric encapsulation layer, show that damage is primarily correlated with fast ions that penetrate the background gas in accordance with Beer’s Law and are often overlooked in ICCD imaging due to the dominance of the bright, delayed plasma luminescence. Significantly, if fast ions are eliminated and a ∼2 nm-thick a-BN layer is “soft landed”, the monolayer graphene is effectively protected from damage by high KE species in the boron nitride plasma plume. Deposited a-BN films display a characteristic dielectric constant of 3.6 at 100 kHz and tunable charge injection properties. Our results enable PLD as a viable option for encapsulation and thin film growth onto ML 2D materials, with implications for both fundamental research and device integration.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2024

Unique optical excitations in topological insulators (Final Technical Report)

The overall objective of this research is to understand how light interacts with topological insulator (TI) films and layered structures. Unlike normal materials, the electrons in TI films are trapped at the top and bottom surfaces of the film. These electrons have unusual properties, including low mass and high velocity. Light shining on these trapped electrons will excite electron density waves, called plasmons, which inherit the unusual properties of the electrons. This project aims to understand how these plasmons interact with each other and how the plasmon properties change as the film dimensions change. By controlling the physical properties of the films, the optical response of the film can also be controlled. In addition to single TI films, the project will also investigate the properties of stacks of TI films layered with normal insulating films. Stacking these materials results in multiple layers of trapped electrons whose plasmons can interact in ever more complex ways. After these interactions are understood, we can begin to engineer complex TI structures to obtain designer optical phenomena in the far-infrared and THz, wavelength ranges of interest for environmental monitoring and chemical sensing. This research directly addresses DOE Grand Challenges, including understanding how properties of matter emerge from complex electronic correlations and learning how to control these properties as well as the mission of the Basic Energy Sciences program to understand and control matter at the electronic/atomic level.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Kivalina Biomass Reactor

This report summarizes work performed under DOE Award DE-EE00010149 to support the reliable operation of a community-scale biochar reactor system in Kivalina, Alaska. The project focused on improving sanitation and waste management in a remote community by assessing the installed system, identifying spare parts, defining key performance indicators (KPIs), preparing operator and maintenance manuals, and developing mobile reporting tools for operational data and KPI tracking. The team also produced training materials and recorded videos to support operator onboarding and continuity. The project demonstrated progress in system readiness, documentation, and digital reporting, while also identifying challenges common to remote deployments, including travel constraints, upstream system failures, and local resource limitations. This work provides a practical framework for improving the operation, monitoring, and future replication of biomass reactor systems in remote communities.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Optimizing Heat Recovery with Storage: Control Validation and Sensitivity Analysis of the Time-Independent Energy Recovery Plant Using Modelica

Heat recovery in large building central plants saves energy but traditionally requires simultaneous heating and cooling. The Time-Independent Energy Recovery (TIER) plant shifts this paradigm by integrating thermal energy storage (TES) to enable heat recovery regardless of concurrent demand, offering a highly efficient, space-saving solution to achieve California’s energy goals. However, its integration of heat recovery chillers, cooling-only chillers, cooling towers, and trim air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) creates growing control and sizing complexity. To overcome this, this study employs high-fidelity Modelica dynamic simulation to validate TIER control sequences and optimize equipment sizing. We translated the written Sequences of Operation into executable Control Description Language (CDL) to test logic against sub-hourly loads. This verification workflow successfully identified and resolved critical vulnerabilities, such as thermal storage freezing and equipment short-cycling, in a virtual environment prior to physical deployment. Then, the study analyzes TIER plant performance across three simulated building types in three locations, and a real building load profile, ensuring variety in heating and cooling loads, and simultaneity factors and explores sizing rules for the TES and ASHP capacity. The analysis shows that the TIER plant operates equipment efficiently leading to a plant SCOP of around 7.5 across all scenarios, higher than a traditional ASHP plant, and a viable pathway to de-risk complex system design and control through simulation to identify optimal designs that maximize energy efficiency, minimize operational costs, and ensure robust operation in varied environmental conditions, thereby facilitating the broader adoption of such a solution for large buildings.

Zanetti, Ettore↗
DOE OSTI2024

ML based control systems for nuclear physics experiments

The Experimental Physics Software and Computing Infrastructure (EPSCI) group at Jefferson Lab is leading the use of machine learning (ML) to enhance control systems in nuclear physics experiments. Collaborating closely with domain experts and data scientists, we have developed an ML-based control system that uses a Gaussian process to dynamically adjust the high voltage of the GlueX Central Drift Chamber. This results in stable detector performance by adapting to environmental changes, thereby reducing the offline calibration effort. Furthermore, we are developing ML-driven systems for optimizing the polarization of photon beams and polarized cryotargets. These systems will maintain the optimal microwave frequency in cryogenic targets and make real-time adjustments to diamond radiators for polarized photon sources, tasks traditionally handled by human operators. By automating these functions, we aim to optimize the polarization, reduce downtime, and minimize human error. This talk will highlight the development of reliable ML-based control systems and the policies to ensure they are both effective and trustworthy.

Jeske, Torri↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mechanical and Light Activation of Materials for Chemical Production

Abstract Mechanical expansion and contraction of pores within photosynthetic organisms regulate a series of processes that are necessary to manage light absorption, control gas exchange, and regulate water loss. These pores, known as stoma, allow the plant to maximize photosynthetic output depending on environmental conditions such as light intensity, humidity, and temperature by actively changing the size of the stomal opening. Despite advances in artificial photosynthetic systems, little is known about the effect of such mechanical actuation in synthetic materials where chemical reactions occur. It is reported here on a hybrid hydrogel that combines light‐activated supramolecular polymers for superoxide production with thermal mechanical actuation of a covalent polymer. Superoxide production is important in organic synthesis and environmental remediation, and is a potential precursor to hydrogen peroxide liquid fuel. It is shown that the closing of pores in the hybrid hydrogel results in a substantial decrease in photocatalysis, but cycles of swollen and contracted states enhance photocatalysis. The observations motivate the development of biomimetic photosynthetic materials that integrate large scale motion and chemical reactions.

Đorđević, Luka [Department of Chemical Sciences Un↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mixed-phase Convective Clouds in the Polar Marine Boundary Layer

This proposal, a collaboration between two universities, firstly aims to describe the high-latitude CAO cloud regime using the array of instruments at the NSA (Barrow, Alaska) and at two mobile ARM sites (MARCUS 2017-18, and COMBLE 2020). These ARM data, and the multi-sensor variables we propose to derive, allow detailed descriptions of mesoscale organization of precipitation, thermodynamic profiles, vertical velocity, cloud depth, and cloud and precipitation properties. These observations are key for our second goal, which is to use output from validated cloud- and eddy-resolving simulations to gain insights into the linkages between microphysical processes, the MBL vertical structure, and the MBL dynamics that control cloud macrostructure.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI1992

Nuclear Safety [Vol. 33, No. 1, January-March 1992]

Nuclear Safety is a review journal that covers significant developments in the field of nuclear safety. Its scope includes the analysis and control of hazards associated with nuclear energy, operations involving fissionable materials, and the products of nuclear fission and their effects on the environment. Primary emphasis is on safety in reactor design, construction, and operation; however, the safety aspects of the entire fuel cycle, including fuel fabrication, spent-fuel processing, nuclear waste disposal, handling of radioisotopes, and environmental effects of these operations, are also treated. Table of Contents for this issue follows. GENERAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: 1 Technical Note: A New Approach to Fission Reactor Safety, Yu. V. Petrov; 5 Erratum; ACCIDENT ANALYSIS: 6 Analysis and Modeling of Fission Product Release from Various Uranium-Aluminum Plate-Type Reactor Fuels, R. P. Taleyarkhan; CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION: 23 Applications of a Surveillance and Diagnostics Methodology Using Neutron Noise From a Pressurized-Water Reactor, R. T. Wood, L. F. Miller, and R. B. Perez; DESIGN FEATURES: 36 Westinghouse Advanced Passive 600 Plant, B. A. McIntyre and R. K. Beck; 47 System 80+™ PWR Safety Design, C. W. Bagnal, R. A. Matzie, and R. S. Turk; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: 58 The MATS Experiments—Mesoscale Atmospheric Transport Studies at the Savannah River Site, A. H. Weber, S. Berman, R. J. Kurzeja, and R. P. Addis; 75 Book Review: Environmental Radioactivity in the European Community 1984-1985-1986, C. A. Little; WASTE AND SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT: 76 Activities Related to Waste and Spent Fuel Management, M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver; OPERATING EXPERIENCES: 87 Aging Assessment of BWR Control Rod Drive Systems, R. H. Greene; 100 Reactor Shutdown Experience, Compiled by J. W. Cletcher; 103 Selected Safety-Related Events, Compiled by G. A. Murphy; 110 Operating U.S. Power Reactors, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver; RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: 129 General Administrative Activities, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver; 139 Reports, Standards, and Safety Guides, D. S. Queener; 143 Proposed Rule Changes as of Sept. 30 1991; ANNOUNCEMENTS: 128 Harvard School of Public Health Announces Short Courses; 128 16th Biennial ANS Topical Meeting on Reactor Operating Experience: Present and Future Technologies—Applying Lessons Learned (Call for Papers); 147 The Authors; 150 Indexes to Nuclear Safety, Volume 32; 154 Errata.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Effect of CO on alcohol oxidation over commercial oxidation catalysts for control of emissions from lean-burn engines

For commercialization, alcohol-based net-zero carbon fuels in diesel-driven internal combustion engines must meet emissions standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Here, a series of aged commercial oxidation catalysts, Pt diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), Pd+Pt DOC, and Pt oxidation catalyst (Pt OC), were studied using an automated flow reactor and in situ DRIFTS techniques to investigate the impact of CO on alcohol oxidation. Surface formate and acetate intermediates were formed due to partial oxidation of methanol and ethanol, respectively. Sequential introduction of alcohol and CO experiments using in situ DRIFTS on all three catalysts showed that CO inhibited low temperature methanol oxidation. Mutual inhibition effects between CO and ethanol were observed during co-oxidation. Acetate species shifted CO oxidation to higher temperatures on Pt DOC and Pt OC, whereas CO pre-exposure inhibited acetate formation. CO oxidation occurred at lower temperatures during ethanol and CO co-oxidation on Pd+Pt DOC.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hydropower and environmental flow management: System-level trade-offs at Glen Canyon Dam

The research focuses on the Colorado River Basin, specifically examining the Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) and its influence on surrounding aquatic ecosystems. This area is crucial due to its role in hydropower production and its impact on downstream environments, including the Grand Canyon National Park. This study explores the integration of environmental factors into hydro dispatch modeling at GCD to tackle ecological challenges posed by the invasive smallmouth bass (SMB). Utilizing the GTMax SL and SERM models, the research assesses the effects of SMB control experiments on hydropower generation, economic value, and grid stability. The study examines the financial and economic impacts of bypass flows designed to release colder water to prevent SMB spawning, which can significantly reduce hydropower output and increase costs. The research identifies that declining reservoir levels and rising water temperatures in Lake Powell have facilitated SMB spawning, posing a threat to native fish populations like the endangered humpback chub. The findings highlight the importance of adaptive management strategies to balance ecological preservation with hydropower generation amid long-term weather-related challenges. The study underscores the need for comprehensive assessments of flow options to prevent SMB establishment below GCD, considering the broader implications for sediment dynamics and ecological interactions.

Ecological impact assessment↗