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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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21 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Water structure and electric fields at the interface of oil droplets

Interfacial water exhibits rich and complex behaviour, playing an important part in chemistry, biology, geology and engineering. However, there is still much debate on the fundamental properties of water at hydrophobic interfaces, such as orientational ordering, the concentration of hydronium and hydroxide, improper hydrogen bonds and the presence of large electric fields. This controversy arises from the challenges in measuring interfacial systems, even with the most advanced experimental techniques and theoretical approaches available. Here we report on an in-solution, interface-selective Raman spectroscopy method using multivariate curve resolution to probe hexadecane-in-water emulsions, aided by a monomer-field theoretical model for Raman spectroscopy. Our results indicate that oil-water emulsion interfaces can exhibit reduced tetrahedral order and weaker hydrogen bonding, along with a substantial population of free hydroxyl groups that experience about 95 cm -1 redshift in their stretching mode compared with planar oil-water interfaces. Given the known electrostatic zeta potential characteristic of oil droplets, we propose the existence of a strong electric field (about 50-90 MV cm -1 ) emanating from the oil phase. This field is inferred indirectly but supported by control experiments and theoretical estimates. These observations are either absent or opposite in the molecular hydrophobic interface formed by small solutes or at planar oil-water interfaces. Instead, water structural disorder and enhanced electric fields emerge as unique features of the mesoscale interface in oil-water emulsions, potentially contributing to the accelerated chemical reactivity observed at hydrophobic-water interfaces.

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

Microstructure, Transport, and Mechanics of Compacted Clay Simulated at the 0.1 μm Scale (1400 Smectite Clay Particles) Using a Coarse-Grained Model with Explicit Counterions

Clay-rich geomaterials play a critical role in many subsurface systems. The macroscale properties of these materials (low permeability, high ionic conductivity, high swelling pressure, etc.) are sensitive to molecular-level adsorption and hydration interactions at clay−water interfaces. Efforts to develop multiscale simulation approaches to predict these properties reveal a scale gap between atomistic simulations (typically limited to systems smaller than 10 nm) and continuum-scale models (which use computational grid elements with dimensions ≳ 10 μm). In this study, we present a coarse-grained (CG) framework that partly bridges this gap by simulating compacted smectite clay assemblages with dimensions of 0.1 μm containing 1,400 clay particles across a range of dry densities (1,050 to 1,850 kg·m −3 ) and Na/Ca counterion compositions (Na fraction ranging from 0.2 to 1). The simulated systems, along with their reconstructed binary three-dimensional pore networks, are used to evaluate the microstructure, pore size distribution, tortuosity, ion diffusivity, and swelling pressure of compacted smectite clay. Results show that our approach captures important features of the mesoscale heterogeneity of compacted clays, including tactoid formation, hierarchical porosity, and anisotropic pore networks. Results also reveal how compaction and counterion composition govern emergent behaviors, including dominant pore sizes, directional transport, and electrochemical response. This work highlights the potential of CG simulations to bridge molecular and continuum scales and to advance geotechnical and environmental applications involving clay-rich materials as well as related nanoporous media such as geopolymers and calcium-silicate-hydrate. However, the results also suggest that accurate prediction of certain microstructural and mechanical properties (e.g., swelling pressure) may require even larger-scale systems on the order of 1 μm.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2021

Spectroscopic evidence for the Fe3+ spin transition in iron-bearing δ-AlOOH at high pressure

δ-AlOOH has emerged as a promising candidate for water storage in the lower mantle and could have delivered water into the bottom of the mantle. To date, it still remains unclear how the presence of iron affects its elastic, rheological, vibrational, and transport properties, especially across the spin crossover. In this study, we conducted high-pressure X-ray emission spectroscopy experiments on a δ-(Al 0.85 Fe 0.15 ) OOH sample up to 53 GPa using silicone oil as the pressure transmitting medium in a diamond-anvil cell. We also carried out laser Raman measurements on δ-(Al 0.85 Fe 0.15 )OOH and δ-(Al 0.52 Fe 0.48 )OOH up to 57 and 62 GPa, respectively, using neon as the pressure-transmitting medium. Evolution of Raman spectra of δ-(Al 0.85 Fe 0.15 )OOH with pressure shows two new bands at 226 and 632 cm –1 at 6.0 GPa, in agreement with the transition from an ordered ( P 2 1 nm ) to a disordered hydrogen bonding structure ( Pnnm ) for δ-AlOOH. Similarly, the two new Raman bands at 155 and 539 cm –1 appear in δ-(Al 0.52 Fe 0.48 )OOH between 8.5 and 15.8 GPa, indicating that the incorporation of 48 mol% FeOOH could postpone the order-disorder transition upon compression. On the other hand, the satellite peak ( K β') intensity of δ-(Al 0.85 Fe 0.15 )OOH starts to decrease at ~30 GPa and it disappears completely at 42 GPa. That is, δ-(Al 0.85 Fe 0.15 )OOH undergoes a gradual electronic spin-pairing transition at 30–42 GPa. Furthermore, the pressure dependence of Raman shifts of δ-(Al 0.85 Fe 0.15 )OOH discontinuously decreases at 32–37 GPa, suggesting that the improved hydrostaticity by the use of neon pressure medium could lead to a relatively narrow spin crossover. Notably, the pressure dependence of Raman shifts and optical color of δ-(Al 0.52 Fe 0.48 )OOH dramatically change at 41–45 GPa, suggesting that it probably undergoes a relatively sharp spin transition in the neon pressure medium. Together with literature data on the solid solutions between δ-AlOOH and ε-FeOOH, we found that the onset pressure of the spin transition in δ-(Al,Fe)OOH increases with increasing FeOOH content. These results shed new insights into the effects of iron on the structural evolution and vibrational properties of δ-AlOOH. The presence of FeOOH in δ-AlOOH can substantially influence its high-pressure behavior and stability at the deep mantle conditions and play an important role in the deep-water cycle

58 GEOSCIENCES↗