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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 37 records · Page 2

Teaching an Old Reagent New Tricks: Synthesis, Unusual Reactivity, and Solution Dynamics of Borohydride Grignard Compounds

Grignard reagents of general formula RMgX (X = Cl - , Br - , I - ) have been utilized in various chemistries for over 100 years. Here, we report that replacing the halide in a Grignard reagent with a reactive borohydride anion adds a new synthetic dimension for these influential compounds. Here, we synthesized the series RMgBH 4 (R=Et, n-Bu, Ph, Bn) and characterized the reactivity toward both organic and inorganic molecules. Using butylmagnesium borohydride (BuMgBH 4 ) as an exemplar, we demonstrate that these compounds possess unique reactivity due to the presence of reducing borohydride groups, resulting in tandem reactivity with organic amides/esters to generate secondary and primary alcohols. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate the stability of BuMgBH 4 is comparable to that of Mg(BH 4 ) 2 + MgBu 2 , validating the Schlenk equilibrium in borohydride Grignard compounds. Metadynamics simulations confirm that the equilibrium is kinetically accessible through solvent-mediated processes. BuMgBH 4 also reacts with CO 2 and NH 3 , revealing potential uses for CO 2 utilization and as a mixed-anion metal borohydride/amide precursor.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Progress Towards Synthesis of Uranium Chloride Fuel Salts Using Zinc Chloride

Reliable, scalable methods for producing high-purity actinide chloride salts are needed to support molten salt reactor fuel development and deployment. This report describes the continued development and demonstration of a bench-scale chlorination and purification apparatus using a zinc chloride-based method for synthesizing uranium chloride fuel salts. In this approach, uranium metal is chlorinated by ZnCl2 to produce LiCl-KCl-UCl3. Reaction with three aliquots of added uranium metal was used to generate a target uranium concentration of 30 wt %. While this concentration was chosen for initial testing of the apparatus and method, the final uranium concentration is not limited to 30 wt %. The zinc metal generated in the reaction forms an immiscible layer that was removed by volatilization at moderately high temperatures. Electrochemical measurements confirmed the removal of zinc and applied sensing methods indicated the uranium concentration to be approximately 25 wt %. These initial results demonstrate that the bench-scale chlorination apparatus is an effective platform for the synthesis and purification of uranium chloride salts using ZnCl2. This method shows promise for application to industry-relevant salt systems such as NaCl-UCl3. Further development is recommended to optimize reagent loading, zinc removal, and avoid possible U-Zn alloy formation.

Dulovic, Stephanie↗

Systematic investigations on iron cycling in phosphorus/siderophore systems: Synergism or antagonism?

Synergisms between microbial exudates on Fe (hydr)oxide dissolution as an effective Fe acquisition pathway have been recently addressed and vigorously debated. However, Fe liberation mechanisms and where siderophores and phosphorus (P) coexist received little attentions. Current study systematically investigated ferrihydrite dissolution in the presence of desferrioxamine B (DFOB) (a kind of fungally-derived siderophores) and inorganic/organic phosphorus (orthophosphate, Pi; myo-inositol hexaphosphate, IHP), as a function of solute pH, reaction time and reagent content. Reacted solids were characterized by N 2 -BET adsorption, zeta (ζ) potential analysis, sequential extraction analysis (SEDEX), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), micro Raman spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Our results indicate that upon reaction with P-only or (DFOB + P) systems, interfacial complexation partially switched from monolayer bidentate-binuclear surface complexes to ternary complexes, or laterally transformed into amorphous Fe–P precipitates. The Fe-Pi complex precipitated more readily under acidic conditions, and Fe-IHP complex preferentially nucleated in neutral-alkaline environments. Phosphorus slightly promoted Fe release from minerals and fixation to the leached layer or interfacial liquid zone initially, but subsequently prevented further attacks from protons and DFOB. The co-effects of P and DFOB likely correspond to two successive scenarios: 1) DFOB is preferentially attracted toward ferrihydrite surfaces by negative electrical fields induced by adsorbed phosphorus and can act synergistically with labile P–Fe complexes, resulting in intensive temporal dissolution of Fh; 2) subsequent Fe shuttling to DFOB can be prohibited by stabilized, passive P/Fe–P layers. Finally, our results emphasize the antagonism between P compounds and siderophores (i.e., DFOB here) on ferrihydrite dissolution to improve understanding of the biologically-mediated Fe cycling in natural systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Uranium Oxide Synthetic Pathway Discernment through Unsupervised Morphological Analysis

We present a novel unsupervised machine learning method for quantitative representation of scanning electron micrographs and its applications and performance for nuclear forensic analysis of uranium ore concentrates. The method uses a vector quantizing variational autoencoder followed by a histogram operation to encode a micrograph into a single dimensional representation, called the latent vector. The method requires no extant labeling of the data and can be applied over large datasets of micrographs with minimal human interaction. The representations generated are broadly descriptive of each micrograph and the microstructure of the material imaged. In the case of uranium ore concentrate analysis, the representations were amenable to processing reagent and ore concentrate species classification with accuracy of 81:8%, which is competitive with state-of-the-art supervised networks. The representations were also used to classify previously unseen processing routes, were able to classify imaging parameters such as magnification (to 76:0% accuracy), were able to classify fine grained process parameters such as calcining temperature (to 74:4% accuracy), and their informatic properties indicate that they are generally descriptive of the image represented. This method can be applied across microstructure analysis fields to perform quantitative analysis without the need for labor intensive and possibly biased human analysis.

Scanning Electron Microscopy, Vector Quantizing Va↗

Radiolytic evaluation of a new technetium redox control reagent for advanced used nuclear fuel separations

Technetium is a problematic radioisotope for used nuclear fuel (UNF) and subsequent waste management owing to its high environmental mobility and coextraction in reprocessing technologies as the pertechnetate anion (TcO 4 - ). Consequently, several strategies are under development to control the transport of this radioisotope. A proposed approach is to use diaminoguanidine (DAG) for TcO 4 - and transuranic ion redox control. Although the initial DAG molecule is ultimately consumed in the redox process, its susceptibility to radiolysis is currently unknown under envisioned UNF reprocessing conditions, which is a critical knowledge gap for evaluating its overall suitability for this role. To this end, we report the impacts of steady-state gamma irradiation on the rate of DAG radiolysis in water, aqueous 2.0 M nitric acid (HNO 3 ), and in a biphasic solvent system composed of aqueous 2.0 M HNO 3 in contact with 1.5 M N,N-di-(2-ethylhexyl)isobutyramide (DEHiBA) dissolved in n-dodecane. In addition, we report chemical kinetics for the reaction of DAG with key transients arising from electron pulse radiolysis, specifically the hydrated electron (e aq - ), hydrogen atom (H ˙ ), and hydroxyl ( ˙ OH) and nitrate (NO 3 ˙ ) radicals. The DAG molecule exhibited significant reactivity with the ˙ OH and NO 3 ˙ radicals, indicating that oxidation would be the predominant degradation pathway in radiation environments. This is consistent with its role as a reducing agent. Steady-state gamma irradiations demonstrated that DAG is readily degraded within a few hundred kilogray, the rate of which was found to increase upon going from water to HNO 3 containing solutions and solvents systems. This was attributed to a thermal reaction between DAG and the predominant HNO 3 radiolysis product, nitrous acid (HNO 2 ), k(DAG + HNO 2 ) = 5480 ± 85 M -1 s -1 . Although no evidence was found for the radiolysis of DAG altering the radiation chemistry of the contacted DEHiBA/n-dodecane phase in the investigated biphasic system, the utility of DAG as a redox control reagent will likely be limited by significant competition with its degradation by HNO 2 .

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Engineering and characterization of carbohydrate‐binding modules for imaging cellulose fibrils biosynthesis in plant protoplasts

Abstract Carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) are noncatalytic domains that assist tethered catalytic domains in substrate targeting. CBMs have therefore been used to visualize distinct polysaccharides present in the cell wall of plant cells and tissues. However, most previous studies provide a qualitative analysis of CBM‐polysaccharide interactions, with limited characterization of engineered tandem CBM designs for recognizing polysaccharides like cellulose and limited application of CBM‐based probes to visualize cellulose fibrils synthesis in model plant protoplasts with regenerating cell walls. Here, we examine the dynamic interactions of engineered type‐A CBMs from families 3a and 64 with crystalline cellulose‐I and phosphoric acid swollen cellulose. We generated tandem CBM designs to determine various characteristic properties including binding reversibility toward cellulose‐I using equilibrium binding assays. To compute the adsorption ( nk on ) and desorption ( k off ) rate constants of single versus tandem CBM designs toward nanocrystalline cellulose, we employed dynamic kinetic binding assays using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. Our results indicate that tandem CBM3a exhibited the highest adsorption rate to cellulose and displayed reversible binding to both crystalline/amorphous cellulose, unlike other CBM designs, making tandem CBM3a better suited for live plant cell wall biosynthesis imaging applications. We used several engineered CBMs to visualize Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts with regenerated cell walls using confocal laser scanning microscopy and wide‐field fluorescence microscopy. Lastly, we also demonstrated how CBMs as probe reagents can enable in situ visualization of cellulose fibrils during cell wall regeneration in Arabidopsis protoplasts.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

CRITICAL MINERAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT OF COALS FROM THE POWDER RIVER BASIN, WYOMING, USA

Coal and associated sediments are potential sources of Rare Earth Elements (REE) and other critical minerals necessary for many consumer and defense-related products and development of energy technologies. For this study, 15 samples were sourced from Dry Fork Mine within the Powder River Basin near Gillette, Wyoming, to determine REE content along with select transition metals (t-metals) of interest in non-combusted coals and associated sediments. An excavator collected samples along a mine highwall, within benched intervals representing a foot to a few feet of coal strata. Homogenized sample subsets were crushed in an aluminum-ceramic vial, then passed through a 106-micron sieve. Sieved samples were pyrolyzed by a LECO TGA-108, which concurrently measured sample moisture, volatile, and ash content. Residual ash was then fused into a glass bead with lithium metaborate at a 6:1 Li-metaborate to sample ratio and then dissolved in 20% nitric acid. The nitric acid solutions containing digested beads were then diluted and passed through a 0.45 micron syringe filter. Filtered samples were analyzed by ICP-MS for REE and select t-metals. Reagent blanks were analyzed to assess for any potential contamination. Total REE plus Y (REE+Y) concentrations across the 15 samples range from 52 ppm to 1015 ppm with an average of 477 ppm on a dry ash basis. When normalized to upper continental crust (UCC; Taylor and McLennan, 1985) values, 13 of the 15 samples show average enrichment factors (EF) for REE+Y greater than 1. EF values indicate M-type enrichment (Sm through Er), as opposed to distinct preferential enrichment of light or heavy REE. T-metals with the highest average concentrations are V, Cu, Ni, and Zr at 215, 243, 123, and 118 ppm, respectively. Multiple t-metals had EF>1; however, Cu, Ge, and Sb have the highest average EF relative to UCC for t-metals, at 9.7, 8.0, and 17.0, respectively.

Copeland, Grant↗

Revival and Technology Transfer of 90SrTiO3 Production for Heat Source Applications

Demand for radioisotope power systems (RPS) appears to be on the rise, and it is unlikely that this new demand can be met by plutonium-238. As a result, new heat source designs are under development. One such design is Z1. Z1 is a strontium-90 demonstration heat source developed by Zeno Power Systems in collaboration with the University of Dayton Research Institute and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. SrTiO3 was chosen as the fuel form for Z1. SrTiO3 was used to produce dozens of terrestrial RPS decades ago. While this indicates the technology is proven, the skill and experience necessary to effectively produce SrTiO3 has been lost. Recapturing SrTiO3 production technology therefore became necessary. Development started with non-radioactive surrogate experiments using natural strontium. This work showed that the old Oak Ridge flowsheets for SrTiO3 production are quite robust, but some critical pieces of the technology are left out of the old documentation. Specifically, particle sizes of the reagents are critical to producing a phase pure SrTiO3. If the reagent particles are not the right size, then a significant Sr3Ti2O7 phase impurity is observed. This phase impurity was proven to be the result of an incomplete reaction between the strontium and titanium precursors. This technology was transferred to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where the technology was adapted for use in a hot cell. With the adaptations complete, this technology was used to produce the fuel for Z1 late last year. This represents the first new heat source design produced in the U.S. in over 40 years.

90Sr, strontium titanate, SrTi03, RTG, Radioisotop↗

Diesel fuel properties of renewable polyoxymethylene ethers with structural diversity

Polyoxymethylene ethers (POMEs) are a class of low-soot and high-cetane oxygenate oligomers of structure RO-(CH 2 O-) $n$ -R, with different chain lengths ($n$) and end-groups (R) that determine their diesel-like fuel properties. Commercial POMEs with methyl end-groups (MM-POME 3-6 ) exhibit undesirably low energy density and high-water solubility. A previous computational assessment indicated that the lower heating value (LHV) and water solubility for MM-POME 3-6 both improve upon end-group exchange with larger butyl, $iso$-butyl and $iso$-pentyl end-groups. Here, we expanded upon our initial trans-acetalization reaction that employed 1-butanol to install butyl end-groups to also include branched, higher carbon-number end-groups using $iso$-butanol and fusel oil as reagents. Additionally, these new products are termed $i$B*POME 1-6 , and FOil*POME 1-5 , respectively, and collectively referred to as R*POMEs. They possess the advantaged properties of the parent MM-POME 3-6 while exhibiting higher LHV (31 MJ kg -1 and 28 MJ kg -1 for $i$B*POME 1-6 , and FOil*POME 1-5 , respectively) and much reduced water solubility (2.7 g L -1 and 1 g L -1 for $i$B*POME 1-6 , and FOil*POME 1-5 , respectively). Additional fuel property analyses were performed using 20 vol% blends of the R*POMEs with a base diesel fuel. Overall, the greater energy density and decreased water solubility of the R*POMEs, as well as their synergistic blending with diesel at moderate blend levels, provide the greatest benefits to consumers and position this group of products as an environmentally friendlier blendstock alternative to the commercially available MM-POME 3-6 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Effects of temperature inversion on densification in chemical vapor infiltration

In a classical chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process, the competing effects of chemical kinetics and reagent gas transport lead to non–uniform depositions such that outer layers of a preform densify faster leaving the core highly porous. Currently, CVI must be performed at a sufficiently low temperature to achieve good densification quality which leads to high processing time and cost. Volumetric heating of the preform, especially through microwaves, can create temperature inversion such that the core is hotter than the outer surface and potentially, overcome the challenges associated with isothermal CVI. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of densification under various such temperature distributions indicate that microwave heating in CVI processing can lead to better (uniform) densification of porous preforms. Here the role of key parameters describing the temperature distributions on the densification behavior is investigated. Strategic temporal control of the temperature distribution shows that processing times can be reduced by almost half while maintaining a good densification quality similar to that of low–temperature isothermal processing. Inside–out densification due to the inverted temperature profile is a key distinguishing characteristic of microwave assisted CVI.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Review of Mercury Sequestration in Cementitious Waste Forms

Decontaminated salt solution from Tank 50 at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is known to contain dissolved mercury species which are present as hydroxides and oxides. These species are reported in analytical measurements as the organic cation [CH 3 Hg] + and the inorganic cation Hg 2+ . The salt solution is mixed with cementitious reagents, blast-furnace slag (BFS) and thermally beneficiated Class F fly ash in the Saltstone Processing Facility and pumped into engineered Saltstone Disposal Units, (SDUs), to produce a solidified waste form. The solidified waste form, saltstone, encapsulates and chemically stabilizes the mercury and other contaminants, sequestering them from release into the environment. With the discovery of methylmercury in the salt solution, testing was performed to determine the extent to which saltstone prepared with methylmercury (MeHg) retains mercury in the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Results from this testing indicated that the amount of mercury extracted remained below the regulatory limit, and that the saltstone formulation with a greater proportion of BFS performed slightly better at retaining Hg in the solid.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Improving Carbonate-Promoted C–H Carboxylation Using Mesoporous Carbon Supports

C–H carboxylation is an attractive way to utilize CO 2 for chemical production provided that it does not consume resource-intensive reagents. Alkali carbonates dispersed into the pores of mesoporous supports display strongly basic reactivity under CO 2 , allowing them to be used as base promoters for C–H carboxylation of (hetero)arenes in the absence of other reagents or catalysts. Mesoporous oxides are convenient support materials, but only a relatively small fraction of the dispersed carbonate (ca. 10-20%) is converted to carboxylate products when metal oxide supports are used. Here we compare mesoporous oxide and carbon supports and investigate the dependence of carbonate reactivity on pore structure. We show that using mesoporous carbons supports can increase the carbonate conversion by 2–4x when compared to oxide supports. This improved carbonate reactivity is maintained across a variety of mesoporous carbons with different pore structures (ordered vs. disordered) and pore diameters, indicating that the dispersed carbonate is intrinsically more reactive on the surface of a carbon material compared to an oxide surface. Reaction of the carboxylate products with dimethyl carbonate yields isolable methyl esters as the final product and regenerates the dispersed carbonate. We show that mesoporous carbon supports are robust to at least 5 cycles of successive C–H carboxylation and methylation with dimethyl carbonate. Furthermore, understanding how the support structure affects dispersed carbonate reactivity is valuable for advancing C–H carboxylation toward practical application and utilizing these materials in other CO 2 transformations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Imaging APO-BMI with Micro X-ray Computed Tomography (CT)

APO-BMI is a high-strength, high-temperature, and low-density foam comprised of 1,2-bis(2-aminophenylthio) ethane (APO-Link, formerly Apocure-601) and 4,4’-bismaleimidodiphenylmethane (BMI) that is used structural applications within the aerospace and weapons manufacturing sectors. APO-link is the diamine reagent used to synthesize BMI, a thermosetting resin. This resin can remain in a molten, flowing state for an extended period of time before crosslinking, allowing addition of glass or carbon microballoons to form its final structure. A portion of the current project was to observe the thermal effects on the structural integrity of the foam associated with exposure to an ion beam. Features within the foam were imaged using micro X-ray computed tomography (CT). The resulting imaging provided evidence that microballoon structure remained mostly intact at the points of failure, indicating that the failure of the material was occurring in the binder material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quantifying how the cis/trans ratio of N,N -dimethyl-3,5-dimethylpiperidinium hydroxide impacts the growth kinetics, composition and local structure of SSZ-39

This work integrates experiments and computational methods to quantify how the cis/trans ratio of the OSDA used in SSZ-39 synthesis impacts the crystallization kinetics, material properties, and final product composition. The crystallization kinetics increase by 30% when increasing the trans isomer content from 14% to 80%. Per prior work, in all cases based on the synthesis gel composition and product yield aluminum is the limiting reagent, and the absence of any amorphous material detected in the time resolved PXRD studies leads us to conclude that FAU dissolution is the rate limiting step in the formation of SSZ-39 in this synthesis protocol. The TGA and NMR results suggest that the trans isomer of OSDA is selectively incorporated into the product. The NMR binding studies, and corresponding DFT-based results show that the trans isomer binds to FAU more strongly than the cis isomer, providing one possible explanation for this enhancement in kinetics and preferential uptake of the trans isomer. The EDS analysis indicates that the Si/Al ratios are between 7.7 and 8.6 at low and high trans OSDA content, indicating zeolite composition is mildly sensitive to the trans isomer content. EDS results show this decrease in aluminum content leads to a corresponding decrease in sodium uptake. DFT-based calculations confirm OSDA–sodium interactions cannot explain any decrease in sodium uptake, reinforcing lower aluminum content as the cause of lower sodium uptake. Preliminary cobalt titration experiments show a surprisingly low cobalt uptake but also show a clear dependence of the cobalt uptake on the solution pH.

Cui, Zheng [Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (Un↗

Spectroscopic, Magnetic, and Computational Investigations on a Series of Rhenium(III) Cyclopentadienide β-diketiminate Halide and Pseudohalide Complexes

Here the low-valent rhenium(I) salt Na[Re(η 5 -Cp)(BDI)] (BDI = N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-3,5-dimethyl-β-diketiminate) was shown to react with various halide and chalcogenolate reagents, leading to the isolation of a series of rhenium(III)-halide and -pseudohalide complexes: Re(X)(η 5 -Cp)(BDI) (1-X, X = F, Cl, Br, I; 2, X = OTf) and Re(ER)(η 5 -Cp)(BDI) (3-ER, ER = SBn, SeBn, TePh). The 1 H NMR spectra of these complexes displayed sharp resonances shifted several ppm from typical diamagnetic regions, as well as distinct chemical shift trends down both the halide (with the exception of F) and chalcogenolate series, with both Cp and BDI backbone peaks moving downfield with increasing atomic number. Subsequent magnetic susceptibility measurements of the rhenium(III) halides 1-Cl, 1-Br, and 1-I indicated that these complexes display temperature-independent paramagnetism (TIP), with χ TIP values of 7.41(44) × 10 -4 to 1.50(51) × 10 -3 cm 3 mol -1 . Multireference complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) computations incorporating spin-orbit state mixing revealed small energy separations (1.7-3.0 kcal/mol) between thermally isolated ground states and the first excited spin-orbit states for the rhenium halides, confirming that low-lying excited states are responsible for the observed TIP behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mapping Hsp104 interactions using cross‐linking mass spectrometry

Molecular machines from the AAA+ (ATPases Associated with diverse cellular Activity) superfamily of protein disaggregases play important roles in protein folding, disaggregation and DNA processing. Recent cryo-EM structures of AAA+ molecular machines have uncovered nuanced changes in their conformation that underlie their specialized functions. Structural knowledge of these molecular machines in complex with substrates begins to explain their mechanism of activity. Here, we explore how cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) can be used to interpret changes in conformation induced by ATP in Hsp104 and how a substrate may interact with Hsp104. We applied a panel of cross-linking reagents to produce cross-linking maps of Hsp104 and interpret our data on previously determined X-ray and cryo-EM structures of Hsp104 from a thermophilic yeast, Calcarisporiella thermophila. We developed an analysis pipeline to differentiate between intra-subunit and inter-subunit contacts within the hexameric homo-oligomer. We identify cross-links that break the asymmetry that is present in Hsp104 in an ATP-hydrolysis competent conformation but is absent in an ATP-hydrolysis-defective mutant. Finally, we identify contacts between Hsp104 and a selected protein (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 PCSK9) to reveal contacts on the central channel of Hsp104 across the length of this protein indicating that we might have trapped interactions consistent with its translocation. Our simple and robust XL-MS-based experiments and methods help interpret how these molecular machines change conformation and bind to other proteins even in the context of homo-oligomeric assemblies enabling coupling state-of-the-art modeling approaches with XL-MS.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗