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At least 37 records · Page 2

Review of high-throughput techniques for detecting solid phase Transformation from material libraries produced by combinatorial methods

High-throughput measurement techniques are reviewed for solid phase transformation from materials produced by combinatorial methods, which are highly efficient concepts to fabricate large variety of material libraries with different compositional gradients on a single wafer. Combinatorial methods hold high potential for reducing the time and costs associated with the development of new materials, as compared to time-consuming and labor-intensive conventional methods that test large batches of material, one- composition at a time. These high-throughput techniques can be automated to rapidly capture and analyze data, using the entire material library on a single wafer, thereby accelerating the pace of materials discovery and knowledge generation for solid phase transformations. The review covers experimental techniques that are applicable to inorganic materials such as shape memory alloys, graded materials, metal hydrides, ferric materials, semiconductors and industrial alloys.

Lee, Jonathan A.↗

Laser-Induced Trapping of Metastable Amorphous AlO x /C (2.5 < x ≤ 3.5) Nanocomposites: Implications for Use as Solid Phase Gas Generators

The synthesis of kinetically "frozen" metastable nanostructures remains elusive. This limitation has severely restricted the current paradigms in materials discovery. We overcame this challenge by phase-stabilizing unusually hyperoxidized and metastable amorphous aluminum oxide (a-AlO x ; 2.5 < x ≤ 3.5) nanostructures. Specifically, we employed laser ablation synthesis in solution (LASiS) as a one-pot nonequilibrium technique to achieve this pivotal advancement. Structural and compositional characterizations of the as-synthesized material reveal highly disordered a-AlO x nanoparticles that are remarkably stabilized by interfacial monolayers of ordered carbon atoms. Both structure and chemical composition were confirmed with disparate characterization methods at different length scales. The nanoparticles of sizes less than10 nm were stable even at elevated temperatures. Only at temperatures higher than 750 °C do the a-AlO x structures undergo a solid-solid phase transition that culminates in the formation of stable α-Al 2 O 3 while releasing excess trapped gases. In conclusion, such disruptive materials can find applications in emerging technologies seeking metastable phase-change materials for solid phase gas generators, batteries, neuromorphic computing, and energetic additives.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (CSPE): Using Color to Monitor Spacecraft Water Quality

In August 2009, an experimental water quality monitoring kit based on Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (CSPE) technology was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS). The kit, called the Colorimetric Water Quality Monitoring Kit (CWQMK), was launched as a Station Development Test Objective (SDTO) experiment to evaluate the suitability of CSPE technology for routine use monitoring water quality on the ISS. CSPE is a sorption-spectrophotometric technique that combines colorimetric reagents, solid-phase extraction, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to quantify trace analytes in water samples. In CSPE, a known volume of sample is metered through a membrane disk that has been impregnated with an analyte-specific colorimetric reagent and any additives required to optimize the formation of the analyte-reagent complex. As the sample flows through the membrane disk, the target analyte is selectively extracted, concentrated, and complexed. Formation of the analyte-reagent complex causes a detectable change in the color of the membrane disk that is proportional to the amount of analyte present in the sample. The analyte is then quantified by measuring the color of the membrane disk surface using a hand-held diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer (DRS). The CWQMK provides the capability to measure the ionic silver (Ag +) and molecular iodine (I2) in water samples on-orbit. These analytes were selected for the evaluation of CSPE technology because they are the biocides used in the potable water storage and distribution systems on the ISS. Biocides are added to the potable water systems on spacecraft to inhibit microbial growth. On the United States (US) segment of the ISS molecular iodine serves as the biocide, while the Russian space agency utilizes silver as a biocide in their systems. In both cases, the biocides must be maintained at a level sufficient to control bacterial growth, but low enough to avoid any negative effects on crew health. For example, the presence of high levels of iodine in water can cause taste and odor issues that result in decreased water consumption by the crew. There are also concerns about potential impacts on thyroid function following exposure to high levels of iodine. With silver, there is a risk of developing argyria, an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of the skin, associated with long term consumption of water containing high concentrations of silver. The need to ensure that safe, effective levels of biocide are maintained in the potable water systems on the ISS provides a perfect platform for evaluating the suitability of CSPE technology for in-flight water quality monitoring. This paper provides an overview of CSPE technology and details on the silver and iodine methods used in the CWQMK. It also reports results obtained during in-flight analyses performed with the CWQMK and briefly discusses other potential applications for CSPE technology in both the spacecraft and terrestrial environments.

Gazda, Daniel B.↗

A statistical approach to the brittle fracture of a multi-phase solid

A stochastic damage model is proposed to quantify the inherent statistical distribution of the fracture toughness of a brittle, multi-phase solid. The model, based on the macrocrack-microcrack interaction, incorporates uncertainties in locations and orientations of microcracks. Due to the high concentration of microcracks near the macro-tip, a higher order analysis based on traction boundary integral equations is formulated first for an arbitrary array of cracks. The effects of uncertainties in locations and orientations of microcracks at a macro-tip are analyzed quantitatively by using the boundary integral equations method in conjunction with the computer simulation of the random microcrack array. The short range interactions resulting from surrounding microcracks closet to the main crack tip are investigated. The effects of microcrack density parameter are also explored in the present study. The validity of the present model is demonstrated by comparing its statistical output with the Neville distribution function, which gives correct fits to sets of experimental data from multi-phase solids.

Liu, W. K.↗

Metastable–solid phase diagrams derived from polymorphic solidification kinetics

Nonequilibrium processes during solidification can lead to kinetic stabilization of metastable crystal phases. A general framework for predicting the solidification conditions that lead to metastable-phase growth is developed and applied to a model face-centered cubic (fcc) metal that undergoes phase transitions to the body-centered cubic (bcc) as well as the hexagonal close-packed phases at high temperatures and pressures. Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of ultrarapid freezing show that bcc nucleates and grows well outside of the region of its thermodynamic stability. An extensive study of crystal–liquid equilibria confirms that at any given pressure, there is a multitude of metastable solid phases that can coexist with the liquid phase. We define for every crystal phase, a solid cluster in liquid (SCL) basin, which contains all solid clusters of that phase coexisting with the liquid. Additionally, a rigorous methodology is developed that allows for practical calculations of nucleation rates into arbitrary SCL basins from the undercooled melt. It is demonstrated that at large undercoolings, phase selections made during the nucleation stage can be undone by kinetic instabilities amid the growth stage. On these bases, a solidification–kinetic phase diagram is drawn for the model fcc system that delimits the conditions for macroscopic grains of metastable bcc phase to grow from the melt. We conclude with a study of unconventional interfacial kinetics at special interfaces, which can bring about heterogeneous multiphase crystal growth. A first-order interfacial phase transformation accompanied by a growth-mode transition is examined.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Materials Characterization, Prediction, and Control Project: Characterization of 316L Stainless Steel after Solid Phase Processing using Ultrasonic NDE Method

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory undertook the Materials Characterization, Prediction, and Control Laboratory Directed Research and Development Project to advance understanding of nuclear material processing and enable multifold acceleration in the development and qualification of new material systems produced via advanced manufacturing methods, such as solid phase processing, for use in national security and advanced energy applications (Smith 2021). A motivation of the Materials Characterization, Prediction, and Control Project was to demonstrate ultrasonic testing as a nondestructive evaluation method to complement traditional destructive methods for characterizing material microstructure with emphasis on grain size determination using a method that may have future applications for real-time inline process monitoring. The objective of the work described in this report is to establish the process and an analysis method for measuring grain sizes of polycrystalline metals with ultrafine grains using ultrasonic shear wave backscattering, building on prior studies on coarser-grained material. The work involves five tasks: Measured ultrasonic backscattering experimentally for a series of 316L stainless steel specimens with various grain sizes made by friction stir processing. Calculated ultrasonic backscattering coefficients from experimental data based on a physical measurement model. Measured ground truth grain sizes of the specimens from electron backscatter diffraction grain boundary images using a generalization of the ASTM E112 (ASTM 2021) intercept method. Built a curve of ultrasonic backscattering coefficients versus the ground truth intercept-based grain sizes to determine the correlation between mean grain sizes and ultrasonic measurements. Demonstrated the ability of using the correlation curve to deduce grain sizes with measured ultrasonic backscattering coefficients for a few 316L stainless steel specimens whose grain sizes were unknown beforehand but were targeted to be an extrapolation to larger grain sizes than used to formulate the correlation curves. Experimental procedures and computational algorithms are developed and validated for these tasks. This work establishes an ultrasonic technique for characterizing material microstructure with ultrafine grains that are often resulted by solid-phase processing. The technique is nondestructive, and it has the potential to be used for real time inline process monitoring. This work successfully demonstrates the viability of an ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation method for microstructural characterization of material having ultrafine grain structure (as small as 1?mm) and produced by an advanced manufacturing method. This includes a demonstration of the method to extrapolate to other conditions. While not demonstrated here, the method is expected to be viable for in-line, or near-inline, process monitoring in advanced manufacturing applications with suitable consideration for access of instrumentation to the material being manufactured.

316 L Stainless Steel↗

Sound Speed as a Candidate for Internal Temperature Monitoring During Solid Phase Processing of Materials

Internal temperature is an important parameter for understanding the solid phase processing (SPP) of materials and improving feedback control of these processes. Friction stir processes, shear assisted processing and extrusion (ShAPE ™ ), and ultrahigh velocity (UHV) cold spray are examples of such processes. Simple thermal models based on temperatures measured at the boundary of the deforming body cannot capture the dynamic nature of temperature generation within the deforming solid. One possibly way of understanding internal temperature is by measuring sound speed, which varies as a function of temperature for materials and directing ultrasonic wave propagation through selected material volumes of interest. In this project, longitudinal wave speed is estimated for aluminum 6061. Piezoelectric materials bonded to a specimen provided data from which longitudinal wave speed was estimated. A discussion evaluated the linear relationship of wave speed versus temperature and postulated how wave speed measurements could be used to estimate the internal temperature of selected material volumes for feedback during SPP of materials. Instrumentation, data and analysis, and a discussion are reviewed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Rapid determination of ions by combined solid-phase extraction--diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

We introduce colorimetric solid-phase extraction (C-SPE) for the rapid determination of selected ions. This new technique links the exhaustive concentration of an analyte by SPE onto a membrane disk surface for quantitative measurement with a hand-held diffuse reflectance spectrometer. The concentration/measurement procedure is complete in approximately 1 min and can be performed almost anywhere. This method has been used to monitor iodine and iodide in spacecraft water in the 0.1-5.0 ppm range and silver(I) in the range of 5.0-1000 microg/l. Applications to the trace analysis of copper(II), nickel(II), iron(III) and chromium(VI) are described. Studies on the mechanism of extraction showed that impregnation of the disk with a surfactant as well as a complexing reagent results in uptake of additional water, which markedly improves the extraction efficiency.

NASA Program Advanced Human Support Technology↗

Data Archive and Portal (DAP) Platform for Solid Phase Processing Technologies

The scale and speed of data generated by modern scientific experiments have constantly challenged the research community to store, curate, manage and optimally use it to drive scientific discoveries. In this work, we have developed a data archive and portal (DAP) platform including analytics capabilities to collect, curate, and manage data and metadata stream for solid phase processing (SPP) techniques. We successfully hosted around ~347K files of data related to processing parameters, microscopic images, and spectroscopic data related to solid phase processing. The DAP platform for SPP will establish an enduring capability to support machine learning and grow collaboration at the intersection of materials science and data science.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Perspective on solid-phase epitaxy as a method for searching novel topological phases in pyrochlore iridate thin films

Pyrochlore iridates exhibit various novel topological phenomena due to their topology and electron correlation. Notably, pyrochlore iridate was the first proposed material system shown to host the time-reversal symmetry broken Weyl semimetal phase. After this profound theoretical proposal, extensive experimental attempts have been made to synthesize high-quality samples in both bulk and film forms. In particular, adjusting thin film geometry represents a practical way to tune the U/ t ( U: Coulomb interaction and t: for hopping parameter) and identify the various topological phases in the regime U ~ λ ( λ: spin–orbit interaction). However, the instability of pyrochlore iridates at high temperature and low oxygen pressure has long been a barrier to growing pyrochlore iridate thin films by conventional film growth methods. To overcome this, pyrochlore iridate films have often been grown by the solid-phase epitaxy method, which uses a metastable amorphous layer grown at low temperature. During a high temperature post-annealing process, the layer in contact with a single crystalline substrate will crystallize epitaxially in the solid state by rearranging atoms at the interface. Here, we present a perspective on the solid-phase epitaxy as a method to synthesize epitaxial pyrochlore iridate thin films and a way to search for novel correlated phenomena.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Sulfur-functionalized solid-phase materials for the selective separation of arsenic and selenium

Radioactive arsenic (As) isotopes are of growing interest for applications in nuclear medicine, national security, and environmental research. Recent efforts at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) have focused on aqueous harvesting of selenium-72,73 ( 72,73 Se) and their daughter isotopes, arsenic-72,73 ( 72,73 As), which are particularly valuable for medical applications and nuclear data studies, respectively. Both conventional isotope production and harvesting methods require chemical separations to purify radioactive As from parent and co-produced Se radioisotopes. While several solid-phase separation methods for As and Se exist, many depend on complex oxidation state control or highly acidic conditions. This study presents results for sulfur-based solid-phase materials selected to enable uptake at lower acidity and eliminate the need for intricate redox chemistry. Specifically, the performance of three covalently bound sulfur-based ligands were evaluated: (1) thiophenol-polystyrene, (2) propanethiol-silica, and (3) thiourea-silica. Uptake characteristics—including distribution coefficients (Dw), kinetics, and column separation behavior—were assessed using 75 Se and 73 As in hydrochloric (HCl) acid and nitric (HNO 3 ) solutions. The resins demonstrated high-yield (>95%) and high-purity As recovery across a range of HCl concentrations. Comparable results in HNO 3 were achieved when combined with anion exchange chromatography. Furthermore, the potential application of these materials for medical isotope generators was also investigated through ligand stability and repeated elution studies. Overall, sulfur leaching from the resins was negligible at the concentrations relevant for these separations but increased with higher acid concentrations.

Arsenic↗

Solid Phase Gradient Alloying Method via ShAPE

Alloying has been used to confer desirable properties to various metallic systems since the bronze age. For example, Ni, Mn, and Cr are alloyed into an Fe matrix to make steel, which has improved strength and corrosion resistance (as displayed in Fig. 1). In addition to the type of alloying elements, the amount of alloying elements added into a matrix is also very critical for a material’s mechanical property, physical property, machinability, and cost. Conventionally, new alloys are discovered by combining alloy precursors and elemental constituents into a mixture and melting them together. The solidified product or ingot represents a usually non-homogeneous combination of the chemistry with a microstructure dictated by the physics of solidification. It is time and energy intensive to optimize the alloying amounts via the casting process and hence, economically not conducive to rapid alloy discovery. In addition, the cast microstructure seen in the as-cast ingot is often not the ideal, nor even desired structure for optimized performance. Cast materials often need further processing such as homogenization, annealing, and deformation work put in through rolling, forging, extruding, etc. to have favorable microstructures and properties. A faster method to discover new alloy combinations and evaluate them in their worked or processed form is needed. Recently, Laser Engineered Net Shaping was applied to fabricate gradient compositional material for alloy designing. However, the mechanical properties of this gradient alloy were poor due to the existence of impurities, oxidation and cracks that are inherent in the melt-solidification process. Because of these limitations, we propose to use a solid-phase process (ShAPE) to create bulk materials (extrudates) that vary in composition from one end of the extruded solid to the other. Various manufacturing methods for alloy design including conventional casting method, laser based combinatorial method and current solid phase gradient alloying method are displayed and compared in Fig. 2. ShAPE machine and a schematic of ShAPE process are displayed in Fig. 3. Starting material is processed by a rotating and plunging die to form an extrudate. We are proposing through this methodology to invent a new, bulk-scale combinatorial technique. With this novel technique, alloying element can be dissolved into the matrix with a continued gradient without bulk melting. Formation of inter-metallics and defects originating from melt processing can be avoided. In addition, the ShAPE process creates the mixed alloy chemistry, and meanwhile subjects the material to severe plastic strain, which induces the favorable “worked” microstructure. Products from the ShAPE process can be tested in hardness directly providing a path to rapid evaluation of mechanical properties. The ability to create graded structures using friction stir processing (FSP) has been demonstrated, however using the ShAPE process we believe will lead to much faster and higher fidelity results. When combined with high throughput screening methods of physical, mechanical and microstructural property characterization, efficiency and accuracy of alloy design can be significantly improved.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Liquid Metering Centrifuge Sticks (LMCS): A Centrifugal Approach to Metering Known Sample Volumes for Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (C-SPE)

Phase separation is one of the most significant obstacles encountered during the development of analytical methods for water quality monitoring in spacecraft environments. Removing air bubbles from water samples prior to analysis is a routine task on earth; however, in the absence of gravity, this routine task becomes extremely difficult. This paper details the development and initial ground testing of liquid metering centrifuge sticks (LMCS), devices designed to collect and meter a known volume of bubble-free water in microgravity. The LMCS uses centrifugal force to eliminate entrapped air and reproducibly meter liquid sample volumes for analysis with Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (C-SPE). C-SPE is a sorption-spectrophotometric platform that is being developed as a potential spacecraft water quality monitoring system. C-SPE utilizes solid phase extraction membranes impregnated with analyte-specific colorimetric reagents to concentrate and complex target analytes in spacecraft water samples. The mass of analyte extracted from the water sample is determined using diffuse reflectance (DR) data collected from the membrane surface and an analyte-specific calibration curve. The analyte concentration can then be calculated from the mass of extracted analyte and the volume of the sample analyzed. Previous flight experiments conducted in microgravity conditions aboard the NASA KC-135 aircraft demonstrated that the inability to collect and meter a known volume of water using a syringe was a limiting factor in the accuracy of C-SPE measurements. Herein, results obtained from ground based C-SPE experiments using ionic silver as a test analyte and either the LMCS or syringes for sample metering are compared to evaluate the performance of the LMCS. These results indicate very good agreement between the two sample metering methods and clearly illustrate the potential of utilizing centrifugal forces to achieve phase separation and metering of water samples in microgravity.

Gazda, Daniel B.↗

Determination of Scopolamine in Human Saliva Using Solid Phase Extraction and LC/MS/MS

Purpose: Scopolamine is the preferred treatment for motion sickness during space flight because of its quick onset of action, short half-life and favorable side-effect profile. The dose administered depends on the mode of administration and usually ranges between 0.1 and 0.8 mg. Such small doses make it difficult to detect concentrations of scopolamine in biological fluids by using conventional HPLC methods. To measure scopolamine in saliva and thereby to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of scopolamine, we developed an LC/MS/MS method using off-line solid phase extraction. Method: Samples (0.5mL) were loaded onto Waters Oasis HLB co-polymer cartridges (10 mg, 1 mL) and eluted with 0.5 mL methanol without evaporation and reconstitution. HPLC separation of the eluted sample was performed using an Agilent Zorbax SB-CN column (50 x 2.1 mm) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min for 4 minutes. The mobile phase for separation was 90:10 (v/v) methanol: ammonium acetate (2 mM) in water, pH 5.0 +/- 0.1. Concentrations of scopolamine were determined using a Micromass Quattro Micro(TM) mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization (ESI). ESI mass spectra were acquired in positive ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring for the determination of scopolamine m/z = 304.2 yields 138.1 and internal standard (IS) hyoscyamine m/z = 290.2 yields 124.1. Results: The method is rapid, reproducible, specific and has the following parameters: scopolamine and the IS are eluted at 1.7 and 3.2 min respectively. The linear range is 50-5000 pg/mL for scopolamine in saliva with correlation coefficients > 0.99 with a CV < 0.5 %. The intra-day and inter-day CVs are < 15 % for quality control samples with concentrations of 75, 300, 750 and 3000 pg/mL of scopolamine in human saliva. Conclusion: Solid phase extraction allows more rapid sample preparation and greater precision than liquid extraction. Furthermore, we increased the sensitivity and specificity by adjusting the LC mobile phase and using an MS/MS detector.

Wang, Zuwei↗