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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Bioadaptive Ni single atoms unlock high rate microbial electrosynthesis of isopropanol from CO 2

Hybrid systems that integrate electrochemical CO 2 reduction with microbial upgrading offer a viable route to high value organic compounds from CO 2 at ambient conditions. However, electrocatalyst deactivation in microbial growth media remains a key barrier, limiting efficiency and increasing cost. Here we show that a bioadaptive single-atom nickel catalyst (Ni SAC), coupled with genetically engineered Clostridium ljungdahlii, enables robust electrosynthesis of isopropanol (IPA) from CO 2 via a CO-mediated pathway. Instead of relying on H 2 as an electron carrier, the system applies high-rate CO formation in complex growth media, maintaining a tunable CO Faradaic efficiency up to 92%, which is 9.4 to 52.7 times greater than conventional Ag catalysts. This performance supports stable IPA production at current density of 10.8 A/m 2 and production rate of 161.3 mg/L/day. In situ Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, together with theoretical calculations, indicate that the Ni SAC can resist competing organic adsorption and retain its coordination structure during CO 2 reduction in bioelectrolytes, providing a mechanistic basis for the catalyst stability and integrated process performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Strategizing emission cuts in China to mitigate short-term warming from clean air policies

Aerosol-cloud interactions remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in estimates of anthropogenic climate forcing. Reducing aerosols to achieve air quality improvement and climate goals can cause unintended warming due to the weakening of aerosol cooling. Here we investigate the climate impacts of spatially optimized sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emission reduction under a carbon-neutral pathway in China. We find that targeting reduction in highly polluted regions in China significantly suppresses the rise in effective radiative forcing due to aerosol-cloud interactions (ERF aci ) during 2020–2060. Owing to the nonlinear aerosol-cloud interaction, the optimized emission reduction strategy limits the regional average increase in ERF aci of more than 0.89 W m −2 to less than 0.13 W m −2 in the short-term future during 2020–2040 and weakens the ERF aci increase by two-thirds in 2060 over China. These findings demonstrate the critical role of targeted emission control in mitigating short-term climate risks while pursuing air quality goals.

Zhu, Yitong [Nanjing Univ. of Information Science ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Isolation of genome-predicted Caldatribacterium ( Atribacterota ) reveals pervasive microbial cultivation problem due to folate precipitation

Most bacterial phyla have few or no pure cultures, including Atribacterota , comprised of ubiquitous anaerobes. Here, we report genome-guided enrichment and isolation of two Atribacterota species representing a new family, Caldatribacterium saccharofermentans from a hot spring, and Caldatribacterium inferamans from a deep aquifer. Both were co-enriched with sulfate-reducing bacteria and initially resisted isolation, which we link to inadvertent removal of precipitated folic acid by filter-sterilization of unbuffered Wolin’s vitamin solution. We then predict folate auxotrophy across the Atribacterota and ~29% of all bacteria, with extensive auxotrophy in 27% of phyla. Since ≥604 of 791 ( ≥ 76%) media with folic acid additions in the MediaDive database use unbuffered vitamin solutions in which folic acid is likely removed during filter-sterilization, we propose that folate auxotrophy limits culturability in defined media en masse. We also uncover unusual features of Caldatribacterium , including three lipid membrane-like layers (LMLs), with the inner LML surrounding the nucleoid, and a high percentage of secreted proteins, supporting a unique cell biology of Atribacterota .

Biological and medical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2026

Elimination of detrimental grain boundary segregation in garnets

Garnet Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 electrolyte is considered a key enabler of solid-state batteries with Li metal electrodes, but the grain boundaries impair its performance. To date, the understanding of grain boundary structures and its impact on performance remains elusive. Here, we show that element segregation at Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 grain boundaries critically governs Li transport and nucleation. During conventional sintering, Al, Ta, and La segregate at grain boundaries, locally depleting Li and creating space-charge layers that lower total ionic conductivity. Simultaneously, this segregation leads to higher electronic conductivity along grain boundaries, which promotes Li nucleation at grain boundary edges with increased risk of dendrite formation. The underlying mechanism of segregation is governed by both thermodynamic driving forces and diffusion kinetics. Building on this understanding, we develop a strategy to achieve segregation-free grain boundaries through a rapid sintering protocol that utilizes the onset of solid-state softening. This approach yields transparent, polycrystalline Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 with negligible grain boundary impedance and enhanced dendrite tolerance. By elucidating the structural origins and electrochemical consequences of grain boundary segregation, this work provides a guidance for the rational optimization of solid electrolytes.

Energy - Storage↗
DOE OSTI2025

Towards an open model intercomparison platform for integrated assessment models scenarios

The majority of scenarios in the IPCC database are generated by integrated assessment models (IAMs) and come from model intercomparison projects. However, the way in which the current model intercomparison projects are organized is not open to all IAM teams worldwide. Here we propose a transparent and inclusive platform that is open to anyone with an IAM regarding protocols development, scenario submissions and results evaluation. We discuss the challenges of this approach, particularly human resources and financial support. Here, we identify diversity in the level of model capability and quality of model output as possibly critical issues. Despite such challenges, the IAM community and its scientific activities can improve and benefit from the proposed platform, ultimately contributing to better climate policymaking.

IAM↗
DOE OSTI2025

Many-body interference in kagome crystals

When electrons in metals act collectively, they enable emergent phenomena and electronic functionalities that transcend the behaviour of individual particles. Coherent collective charge motion has so far been observed primarily in superconductors, in which it arises with the formation of Cooper pairs. Here we report experimental evidence for coherent charge transport in the normal state of the kagome metal CsV 3 Sb 5 , indicative of a distinct collective electronic state. The signature is a set of magnetoresistance oscillations in mesoscopic crystalline pillars under in-plane magnetic fields, with a periodicity determined by the number of magnetic flux quanta h/e threading between adjacent kagome layers—effectively forming an interlayer Aharonov–Bohm interferometer. The cooperative nature of this phenomenon is evidenced by a non-analytic angular dependence characterized by abrupt transitions between discrete oscillation frequencies and its persistence over length scales that exceed the single-particle mean free path. Notably, the oscillation amplitude matches other anomalous electronic responses reported in CsV 3 Sb 5 , pointing to an underlying mechanism that establishes intrinsic coherence. These findings shed new light on the debated nature of correlated order in kagome metals and establish CsV 3 Sb 5 as a platform for realizing long-range coherent charge transport in the absence of superconductivity—opening new directions for coherence in correlated electron systems beyond conventional models.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Mesoscale atomic engineering in a crystal lattice

Controlling individual atoms using lasers, ion traps and scanning probe tips has transformed our understanding of matter and enabled breakthroughs in quantum science. Extending this control into three-dimensional (3D) solids and across mesoscopic scales, however, remains a foundational challenge. Electron irradiation in electron microscopes is known to induce atomic displacements, and atomic manipulation has been proposed and demonstrated. Yet repeated and deterministic control has remained elusive. Here, in this study, we demonstrate deterministic atomic engineering in a 3D crystal, creating ordered arrangements of more than 40,000 user-defined defects within minutes across a 150 nm × 100 nm × 13 nm volume. By steering individual Cr atoms in the magnetic semiconductor CrSBr into selected interstitial sites using an electron beam directed with sub-20-pm-scale accuracy, we create vacancy–interstitial complexes. The resulting impurity array forms a mesoscale crystal embedded within the host lattice, a new form of engineered artificial matter that remains stable at room temperature and outside the microscope. By tracking Cr atom displacements, we identify conditions under which the defect structures are predictable. Our calculations suggest that these defects form correlated impurity states with intra-defect optical transitions and inter-defect kinetic and Coulomb interactions. This establishes a generalizable platform for atomic defect engineering at mesoscopic, and potentially macroscopic, scales, opening opportunities for scalable quantum technologies, including deterministic colour-centre placement, quantum simulation of many-body lattice models and atomic-scale manufacturing.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

CHUWD-H v1.0: a comprehensive historical hourly weather database for U.S. urban energy system modeling

Reliable and continuous meteorological data are crucial for modeling the responses of energy systems and their components to weather and climate conditions, particularly in densely populated urban areas. However, existing long-term datasets often suffer from spatial and temporal gaps and inconsistencies, posing great challenges for detailed urban energy system modeling and cross-city comparison under realistic weather conditions. Here we introduce the Historical Comprehensive Hourly Urban Weather Database (CHUWD-H) v1.0, a 23-year (1998-2020) gap-free and quality-controlled hourly weather dataset covering 550 weather station locations across all urban areas in the contiguous United States. CHUWD-H v1.0 synthesizes hourly weather observations from stations with outputs from a physics-based solar radiation model and a reanalysis dataset through a multi-step gap filling approach. A 10-fold Monte Carlo cross-validation suggests that the accuracy of this gap filling approach surpasses that of conventional gap filling methods. Designed primarily for urban energy system modeling, CHUWD-H v1.0 should also support historical urban meteorological and climate studies, including the validation and evaluation of urban climate modeling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Emergence of low-energy spin waves in superconducting electron-doped cuprates

In order to fully utilize the technological potential of unconventional superconductors, an enhanced understanding of the superconducting mechanism is necessary. In the best performing superconductors, the cuprates, superconductivity is intimately linked with magnetism, although the details of this coupling remain elusive. Here, we address this gap by studying the electron-doped cuprate Nd 1.85 Ce 0.15 CuO 4−δ that has an antiferromagnetic ground state when synthesized and only becomes superconducting after a reductive annealing process. Using neutron spectroscopy, we show that the as-grown crystal exhibits a large spin pseudogap in the magnetic fluctuation spectrum. Annealing removes defects introduced by the commonly employed synthesis method and significantly reduces the spin pseudogap. While the spin pseudogap in the annealed sample likely arises from superconductivity, in the as-grown sample it results from the absence of long-wavelength spin waves. These results reveal a direct connection between defects, magnetism, and superconductivity, offering new insight into the mechanisms underlying high-temperature superconductivity and guiding the design of improved superconducting materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Strain-driven oxygen vacancy ordering in LaNiO 3 thin films revealed by integrated differential phase contrast imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy

Rare-earth nickelates, such as LaNiO 3 (LNO), exhibit complex electronic properties, with ordered oxygen vacancies (OOV) influencing conductivity and magnetic behavior. We investigate the structural stability of strain-induced OOV phases in LNO thin films grown on SrTiO 3 substrates and the impact of Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) faults. Using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and integrated differential phase contrast (iDPC) STEM imaging, we conducted atomic-scale structural and compositional analyses of OOV. Geometric phase analysis (GPA) was employed to measure the strain in fault-free and RP fault regions, while density functional theory (DFT) calculations explored different OOV arrangements in the LNO phase. Simulated iDPC-STEM imaging of energy-stabilized structures was performed to correlate with experimental results. Here, our findings reveal superstructure modulation in the chemical composition and atomic-scale lattice structure in LNO, primarily due to the formation of the OOV in Ni–O layers of the LaNiO 2.5 phase. The out-of-plane compressive strain of about 2% stabilizes this phase, reducing the strain, diminishing OOV, and transforming them into LNO.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

From lignin to market: a technical and economic perspective of reductive depolymerization approaches

Lignin has grown into one of the main candidates to replace fossil-based resources as it is the largest renewable source of aromatic building blocks. The complex structure of polymeric lignin, however, requires depolymerization to simpler building blocks for the chemical industry. One of the most promising depolymerization approaches is reductive depolymerization of which two process configurations are currently studied in pilot scale installations for upscaling to industrial scale: (i) reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF), and (ii) reductive catalytic depolymerization (RCD). Both technical and techno-economic aspects will be covered within this review, discussing the advantages and challenges of both approaches regarding processing, production costs, product output, and applications. In this regard, RCF benefits from its decreased energy and solvent consumption linked with being a one-step process and delivers a product with a high monomer content (∼25–45 wt%). RCD, on the other hand, has the advantage of continuous processing and reduced catalyst fouling and delivers a product that mainly consists of oligomers (<10 wt% monomers). The complete overview of both processes presented here addresses their potential, and can guide future researchers, policy makers and companies to make thoughtful decisions on lignin valorization.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Updates on MURAVES Project at Mt. Vesuvius

The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project aims to employ muography imaging techniques to investigate the internal structure of the summit of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano located near Naples, Italy. This paper reports recent advancements in data analysis and simulation tools that significantly improve the quality and reliability of the experiment’s results. A new track selection method, referred to as the Golden Selection, has been developed to identify high-quality muon tracks by applying an improved χ 2 -based criterion. This method enhances the signal-to-background ratio and improves the resolution of the resulting muographic images. Moreover, the simulation framework has been upgraded through the integration of the MULDER (MUon simuLation for DEnsity Reconstruction) library, which consolidates the functionalities of previously used libraries into a single, unified platform. MULDER enables efficient and accurate modeling of muon flux variations induced by topographical features. A good agreement is observed between the simulated and measured muon flux maps, validating the effectiveness of the new analysis and simulation approaches.

Cosmic rays↗
DOE OSTI2026

Ultrafast x-ray scattering of photodissociation dynamics in 2-iodothiophene

Here, a time-resolved x-ray scattering (TRXS) investigation of the photodissociation dynamics of gas-phase 2-iodothiophene molecules following 252 nm excitation is presented. Structural evolution of the molecule and dynamical information on the resulting photofragments were captured using femtosecond x-ray free-electron laser pulses. Two dissociation pathways were identified, arising via excitation to ππ* and (n/π)σ* states, respectively, yielding distinct interfragment recoil velocities of ∼6.4 Åps −1 and 17.0 Åps −1 . A comparison of asymptotic scattering data with simulated patterns indicates that the thiophene ring remains closed following dissociation at this wavelength. Modeling the experimental data yields a branching ratio of ∼3:1 in favor of the high velocity channel. These findings demonstrate the capability of TRXS to disentangle concurrent ultrafast reaction pathways and provide detailed structural insight into energy redistribution during photoinduced bond fission in complex molecular systems.

Razmus, Weronika O. [Univ. of Southampton (United ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Data-driven Mori–Zwanzig modeling of Lagrangian particle dynamics in turbulent flows

The dynamics of Lagrangian particles in turbulence play a crucial role in mixing, transport, and dispersion in complex flows. Their trajectories exhibit highly nontrivial statistical behavior, motivating the development of surrogate models that can reproduce these trajectories without incurring the high computational cost of direct numerical simulations of the full Eulerian field. This task is particularly challenging because reduced-order models typically lack access to the full set of interactions with the underlying turbulent field. Novel data-driven machine learning techniques can be powerful in capturing and reproducing complex statistics of the reduced-order/surrogate dynamics. In this work, we show how one can learn a surrogate dynamical system that is able to evolve a turbulent Lagrangian trajectory in a way that is point-wise accurate for short-time predictions (with respect to Kolmogorov time) and stable and statistically accurate at long times. This approach is based on the Mori–Zwanzig formalism, which prescribes a mathematical decomposition of the full dynamical system into resolved dynamics that depend on the current state and the past history of a reduced set of observables, and the unresolved orthogonal dynamics due to unresolved degrees of freedom of the initial state. We show how by training this reduced order model on a point-wise error metric on short time-prediction, we are able to correctly learn the dynamics of Lagrangian turbulence, such that also the long-time statistical behavior is stably recovered at test time. This opens up a range of applications, for example, for the control of active Lagrangian agents in turbulence.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

TEM turbulence in simulation and experiment in quasisymmetric and degraded-symmetry configurations of the HSX stellarator

The Helically Symmetric Experiment (HSX) has demonstrated reduced neoclassical transport and flow damping with quasisymmetry, but the difference of turbulent transport between quasisymmetric and degraded-symmetry configurations has not been definitively assessed. Profile analysis presented here shows that anomalous transport at the mid-radius is larger with degraded quasisymmetry when temperature and density profiles are matched. An initial comparison (${T_\mathrm{i}/T_\mathrm{e}} = 1$) between the quasisymmetric and degraded symmetry configurations finds that trapped-electron mode (TEM) turbulence can support larger heat fluxes in the degraded symmetry configuration despite smaller linear growth rates. However, further simulations at the experimental temperature ratio ($T_\mathrm{i}/T_\mathrm{e} = 0.2$) do not reproduce this effect. Experimental measurements of heat transport and density fluctuation amplitude are compared to nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations at the experimental temperature ratio. The heat flux and density fluctuation amplitude in simulation reproduce a substantial dependence on the density gradient, and the simulated heat flux matches measurements within experimental uncertainties, indicating that TEM turbulence is responsible for the anomalous transport at the steep density gradient in HSX.

HSX↗
DOE OSTI2026

Global gyro-kinetic ion temperature gradient and trapped electron mode turbulence modelling in X -point geometry in negative and positive triangularity

Comparative modelling of ion temperature gradient (ITG)/trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence in negative (NT) and positive (PT) triangularity plasma shapes was done using the nonlinear global full-f gyrokinetic particle code JOREK-GK in the realistic X-point tokamak geometry including the Scrape Off Layer (SOL) for TCV and DIII-D parameters. A comparison of JOREK-GK code with the gyrokinetic codes GS2 and GENE was done using NT/PT triangularity TCV L-modes parameters showing good agreement between codes in linear growth rates and clear beneficial effect of NT as compared to PT. Global non-linear modelling of the ITG/TEM saturated turbulence for realistic DIII-D NT pulses was done and compared with numerically constructed PT equilibrium with the same plasma profiles. Existence of longer correlation length of density fluctuations in PT compared to NT was demonstrated. Stronger and more sheared zonal flows are generated via Reynolds stress in NT compared to PT. These factors are stabilizing for TEM/ITG turbulence in NT and lead to smaller heat fluxes and heat conductivities in NT compared to PT configuration. Weak dependence of plasma confinement on collisionality and plasma rotation was found in modelling of DIII-D NT shots similar to the experiment. The confinement scaling with normalized ion gyro-radius ρ* was estimated both for NT and PT. Bohm-like scaling was obtained in both configurations, however with better confinement for NT compared to PT which could be favourable factor for reactor size machines.

ITG↗
DOE OSTI2025

Measurements and kinetic modeling of O 2 vibrational kinetics in O 2 –Ar mixtures partially dissociated by a Ns pulse discharge

Vibrational kinetics of O 2 is studied during the O atom recombination in an O 2 –Ar mixture, partially dissociated by a burst of ns discharge pulses in a heated plasma flow reactor. The time-resolved temperature in the discharge afterglow is determined by Rayleigh scattering. Time-resolved O atom number density is measured by ps Two-Photon absorption Laser Induced Fluorescence, calibrated in xenon. Time-resolved vibrational level populations of molecular oxygen, O 2 (v= 8–20), are measured by ps Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF), with the absolute calibration by NO LIF. Time-resolved ozone number density is monitored by broadband UV absorption. The results are compared with the predictions of a state-specific kinetic model. The experimental data indicate a rapid initial decay of O 2 (v) populations generated by electron impact in the discharge, due to the vibration-translation (V–T) relaxation by O atoms. This is followed by a slower population reduction, on the time scale much longer compared to that for V–T relaxation or vibration-vibration (V–V) exchange. Both O atoms and the O 2 (v) populations decay on the same time scale, indicating that chemical reactions initiated by the O atom recombination result in the generation of vibrationally excited O 2 molecules. These trends are reproduced by the kinetic model, which shows that the reaction of O atoms with ozone is the dominant pathway of O 2 (v) generation at the present conditions. The predicted relative O 2 (v) populations are close to the experimental results, but absolute number densities differ from the experimental data. This is likely due to uncertainties in the absolute calibration of LIF measurements and in the spectroscopic model used in the data reduction. The present work demonstrates the capability for the absolute, time-resolved measurements of vibrationally excited O 2 in recombining gas flows, to quantify the energy partition in the recombination reactions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Map-level baryonification: unified treatment of weak lensing two-point and higher-order statistics

Precision cosmology benefits from extracting maximal information from cosmic structures, motivating the use of higher-order statistics (HOS) at small spatial scales. However, predicting how baryonic processes modify matter statistics at these scales has been challenging. The baryonic correction model (BCM) addresses this by modifying dark-matter-only simulations to mimic baryonic effects, providing a flexible, simulation-based framework for predicting both two-point and HOS. We show that a 3-parameter version of the BCM can jointly fit weak lensing maps' two-point statistics, wavelet phase harmonics coefficients, scattering coefficients, and the third and fourth moments to within 2% accuracy across all scales ℓ < 2000 and tomographic bins for a DES-Y3-like redshift distribution ( z ≲ 2), using the FLAMINGO simulations. These results demonstrate the viability of BCM-assisted, simulation-based weak lensing inference of two-point and HOS, paving the way for robust cosmological constraints that fully exploit non-Gaussian information on small spatial scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗