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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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Supporting experimental data for "Conversion of Stored Thermochemical Potential into High Quality Heat in a Continuous Flow Reactor/Heat Exchanger" including steady-state temperatures and conversion data.
Abstract The operation of low‐temperature electrochemical energy conversion systems (fuel cells, electrolyzers) at high pH values is of perennial interest due to the possibility of moving away from expensive platinum group metal catalysts and reducing cost. Historically, the anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and ionomers have been hampered by performance (ionic conductivity, mechanical strength) and chemical stability issues. In this context, select developments over the past decade in alternate AEM chemistries, water management methods, and production of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) that have enabled a significant leap in performance of alkaline fuel cells are examined. These developments are linked to performance improvements in alkaline H 2 /O 2 fuel cells and also consider developments in alkaline fuel cells using nitrogen‐containing fuels (ammonia, hydrazine), carbon‐containing fuels (alcohols, glycols), and boron‐containing fuels (sodium borohydride, ammonia borane). Finally, current challenges and bottlenecks are identified, and potential solutions are proposed.
Pathways for NH 3 decomposition to N 2 and N 2 H 4 by atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma are analyzed using a combination of molecular beam mass spectrometry measurements and zero-dimensional kinetic modeling. Experimental measurements show that NH 3 conversion and selectivity towards N 2 formation scale monotonically with the specific energy input into the plasma with ~ 100% selectivity to N 2 formation achieved at specific energy inputs above 0.12 J cm −3 (3.1 eV (molecule NH 3 ) −1 ). The kinetic model recovers these trends, although it underpredicts N 2 selectivity at low specific energy input. These discrepancies can be explained by the underestimation of reaction rate coefficients for reactions that consume N 2 H x species in collisions with H radicals and/or radial nonuniformities in power deposition, gas temperature, and species concentrations that are not represented by the plug flow approximation used in the model. The kinetic model shows that N 2 formation proceeds through N 2 H x decomposition pathways rather than NH x decomposition pathways in low temperature, atmospheric pressure plasma. Higher selectivity toward N 2 production can be achieved by operating at higher NH 3 conversion and with a higher gas temperature. Furthermore, the high energy cost of NH 3 decomposition by atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma found in this work (25–50 eV (molecule NH 3 converted) −1 ; 17–33 eV (molecule H 2 formed) −1 ) is a result of the energy requirement for electron-impact dissociation of NH 3 and the significant re-formation of NH 3 by three-body recombination reactions between NH 2 and H.
It has been demonstrated that monazite-type materials are excellent candidates for nuclear waste forms, and hence, their facile synthesis is of great importance for the needed sequestration of existing nuclear waste. The synthesis of monazite, LaPO 4 , requires inconveniently high temperatures near 1000°C and generally involves the conversion of the presynthesized rhabdophane, LaPO 4 •nH 2 O, to the LaPO 4 monazite phase. During this structure transformation, the rhabdophane converts irreversibly to the thermodynamically stable monoclinic monazite structure. A low-temperature (185° to 260°C) mild hydrothermal acid-promoted synthesis of monazite is described that can both transform presynthesized rhabdophane or assemble reagents to the monoclinic monazite structure. The pH dependence of this reaction is detailed, and its applicability to the LnPO 4 (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm-Gd), Ca 0.5 Th 0.5 PO 4 , and Sr 0.5 Th 0.5 PO 4 systems is discussed. The crystal growth of Ca 0.5 Th 0.5 PO 4 and Sr 0.5 Th 0.5 PO 4 is described, and their crystal structures were reported. In situ x-ray diffraction studies, performed as a function of temperature, provide insight into the structure transformation process.
Overview of the H2NEW Consortium presented at the DOE Hydrogen Program 2024 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting.
Propylene oxide, a key commodity of the chemical industry for a wide range of consumer products, is synthesized through sequential propane dehydrogenation and epoxidation reactions. However, the lack of a direct catalytic route from propane to propylene oxide reduces efficiency and represents a major challenge for catalysis science. Herein, we report the discovery of a highly active and selective catalyst, made of alumina-supported subnanometer copper clusters, which can directly convert propane to propylene oxide at temperatures as low as 150 °C. Moreover, at higher temperatures, on the same catalysts, the selectivity is switched to propylene. Accompanying theoretical calculations indicate that partially oxidized and/or hydroxylated clusters have low activation energies for both propane dehydrogenation and propylene epoxidation pathways, enabling direct conversion with very high selectivity for propylene oxide. The discovery of a low-temperature catalyst that can convert propane directly to propylene oxide provides an important opportunity for the development of energy-efficient and economic catalysts for this industrially critical process. Similarly, when operating at higher temperatures, these catalysts are posed as potent oxidative dehydrogenation catalysts.
Electrochemical deposition (ECD) of Cu 2 O provides a scalable and low temperature pathway to solar cells with a theoretical high energy conversion efficiency of 23%, based on the 2.0–2.2 eV band gap of Cu 2 O. However, existing ECD-Cu 2 O devices are plagued by poor crystallinity and low selectivity of the electron and hole transport layers. Here we use Vibrating Kelvin Probe Surface Photovoltage Spectroscopy (VKP-SPV) to probe the charge transfer selectivity in FTO/ZnO/Cu 2 O/PEDOT:PSS/Ni heterojunction solar cells. Selective electron extraction is achieved at the ZnO back contact to Cu 2 O, as confirmed by a negative surface photovoltage signal. While the uncoated Cu 2 O surface is electron-selective due to the formation of a hole depletion layer, spin coating of a PEDOT:PSS film turns it into a hole-selective interface. After adding nickel metal ink top electrodes, functional 1.0 cm 2 solar cells with power conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 0.07%, 195 mV open-circuit voltage, and 1.28 mA cm –2 short-circuit photocurrent are achieved. The photovoltaic performance is higher for aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) substrates than for fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) due to the presence of a n-/p-junction that further increases the electron selectivity of the AZO/ZnO/Cu 2 O contacts. Overall, this work demonstrates the first application of PEDOT:PSS as a hole transport layer (HTL) for Cu 2 O and the use of VKP-SPV to measure the photovoltage contributions of the Cu 2 O interfaces. Furthermore, the ability to fabricate Cu 2 O solar cells at near room temperature without the use of vacuum methods or rare elements is an important step towards a scalable Cu 2 O PV technology.
Here, this study develops intrinsic methane oxidation kinetics for ultra-lean methane conditions in the presence of water over a highly active and stable PtPd–Mg/θ-Al 2 O 3 catalyst. Comprehensive laboratory experiments were conducted over a wide range of methane concentrations (150–1200 ppm CH 4 ), water contents (1–5% H 2 O), and industrially relevant space velocities (80,000 ≤ GHSV ≤ 160,000 h -1 ). These systematic experiments informed a two-dimensional, axisymmetric, multiscale reactor model that was used to develop and validate methane oxidation kinetics under practically relevant conditions, including non-isothermal operation and high conversion regimes. Combined experimental and modeling results revealed significant intraparticle diffusion resistance and transport-induced reaction exotherm at elevated temperatures, which limited catalyst utilization despite high intrinsic activity. These transport effects were explicitly incorporated into the reactor model, enabling accurate estimation of intrinsic kinetic parameters without reliance on conventional effectiveness-factor corrections. The resulting kinetic model successfully captured both kinetically controlled and mass-transfer-limited regimes and reliably predicted CH 4 conversion across broad ranges of temperature, methane concentration, and water content
Porous uranium carbide (UC) pellets possessing moderate electrical conductivity were synthesized by reaction of UO 2 with graphite at temperatures up to 1550°C under rough vacuum. Conversions as high as 98% were achieved at soak times of 2-4 hours. The electrochemistry of the UC pellets in molten LiCl-KCl-6.5 wt% UCl 3 was explored using a variety of techniques including DC polarization methods, cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry and bulk electrolysis. Here, the electrode reaction for anodic dissolution was found to be kinetically controlled by dissociation of UC to a transition state complex that was hypothesized to consist of a uranium atom partially complexed by chloride ions. Precise measurements of current efficiencies using chronopotentiometry indicated upper limits of 90.9 ± 3.4% and 98.3 +1.7/-3.7% for anode and cathode, respectively, when operating at anodic overpotentials near +300 mV. Bulk electrolysis of a UC pellet performed by passing 98% of the theoretical charge resulted in nearly complete recovery of its uranium content as highly pure metal at the cathode.
The growing global climate crisis linked to the rising atmospheric CO 2 levels calls for urgent and innovative solutions. Fixing CO 2 as valuable solid carbon products, such as carbon nanofibers or nanotubes (CNFs or CNTs), offers a promising way to potentially achieve net-negative CO 2 emissions. However, direct CO 2 -to-solid carbon faces significant thermodynamic and kinetic constraints, especially under mild reaction conditions. This mini-review compares three emerging approaches for CO 2 conversion into solid carbon: 1) using molten salt at high temperatures to produce CNFs or CNTs, 2) converting CO 2 to amorphous carbon with pyrophoric liquid metals at near room temperature, and 3) employing an electrocatalytic-thermocatalytic tandem process to produce CNFs at relatively mild temperatures. We examine the underlying principles, thermodynamic driving forces, and recent advances of each approach, and discuss the challenges and opportunities in catalyst development, reactor design, and energy management. We aim to highlight CO 2 fixation, facilitate net-negative CO 2 emissions, and stimulate more innovations for both environmental and economic benefits.
Multivalent metal oxides are promising thermochemical materials (TCMs) for energy storage and conversion owing to their high energy density, air compatibility, and high-temperature stability. Co 3 O 4 serves as a model system for examining particle-size- and structure-dependent redox behavior. While particle size and porosity are known to affect performance, their interplay and the kinetics of pore formation during cycling remain unclear. Here we show the chemical and 3D morphological evolution of Co 3 O 4 micro- and nanoparticles during redox cycles at 800–900 °C using thermal analysis, in-situ synchrotron transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM), and scanning electron microscopy. Thermal analysis shows that nanoparticles re-oxidize more rapidly than microparticles at 800 °C. In-situ nanotomography and chemical imaging reveals that nanoparticles undergo redox conversion without forming internal pores, whereas microparticles develop isolated porosity during reduction. These pores persist through re-oxidation, correlating to a lower conversion rate in subsequent cycles. Our results demonstrate distinct degradation kinetics in Co 3 O 4 micro- and nanoparticles, underscoring the critical role of particle size and porosity in redox performance and informing strategies to enhance the long-term efficiency of metal oxide TCMs.
The SiC-based materials, particularly SiC-fiber-reinforced SiC matrix (SiC/SiC) composites, show strong potential for structural and functional applications in future fusion power plants because they can operate at high temperatures with a range of coolants and breeders, thereby enabling higher energy conversion efficiency. Here, this paper presents recent advancements in the development of SiC-based materials, focusing on processing techniques and material performance and resistance under fusion-relevant environments. The processing activities have emphasized near-net-shape fabrication and the joining of SiC subcomponents, with processing methods and material compositions informed by previous irradiation experiments on various grades of SiC. Research on irradiation effects has remained focused on degradation mechanisms and the microstructural optimization of SiC/SiC composites irradiated to high neutron damage levels. Analysis of irradiation defects in SiC has advanced via the application of cutting-edge characterization methods, among which Raman spectroscopy is becoming a common tool to assess atomic-scale chemical disorder. Fusion–fission crosscutting irradiation research has explored combined effects in SiC/SiC composites with application-relevant geometries, including bowing of SiC/SiC composite channels under neutron flux gradients, stress evolution in SiC/SiC composite tubes under through-thickness temperature gradients, and irradiation-enhanced corrosion in SiC. Finally, research opportunities for component testing and assessment under fusion-relevant conditions, in support of emerging concepts from the private fusion sector, are discussed.
This project investigates hypo- and hyper-eutectic liquid lithium-lead (PbLi) mixtures as a coolant in fusion blanket systems, with a focus on testing the compatibility of compositions with better tritium breeding ratios (TBR). The 12-month study concentrates on static corrosion experiments, comparing silicon carbide (SiC) corrosion rates in Li-rich and eutectic Li-Pb mixtures, and examining interactions between Mo and PbLi. The research seeks to determine the maximum operating temperatures for this material combination, acknowledging the balance between Li-Pb melting temperature and achievable TBR to unlock new opportunities for blanket design. This work lays the groundwork for future collaboration between Kyoto Fusioneering and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Findings could enhance the TBR of fusion blanket designs, and impact fusion energy development by confirming material compatibility between different Li-Pb mixtures with SiC and Mo at higher temperatures, including at temperatures relevant for very high-temperature blankets (1,000 °C), which could enable higher electricity conversion efficiencies and commercial applications using process heat.
Escalating global plastic pollution and the depletion of fossil-based resources underscore the urgent need for innovative end-of-life plastic management strategies in the context of a circular economy. Thermolysis is capable of upcycling end-of-life plastics to intermediate molecules suitable for downstream conversion to eventually high-value chemicals, but tuning the molar mass distribution of the products is challenging. Here, in this study, we report a temperature-gradient thermolysis strategy for the conversion of polyethylene and polypropylene into hydrocarbons with tunable molar mass distributions. The whole thermolysis process is catalyst- and hydrogen-free. The thermolysis of polyethylene and polyethylene/polypropylene mixtures with tailored temperature gradients generated oil with an average chain length of ~C 14 . The oil featured a high concentration of synthetically useful α-olefins. Computational fluid dynamics simulations revealed that regulating the reactor wall temperature was the key to tuning the hydrocarbon distributions. Subsequent oxidation of the obtained α-olefins by sulfuric acid and neutralization by potassium hydroxide afforded sulfate detergents with excellent foaming behaviour and emulsifying capacity and low critical micelle concentration. Overall, this work provides a viable approach to producing value-added chemicals from end-of-life plastics, improving the circularity of the anthropogenic carbon cycle.
This data and code package supports the analysis presented in “Beyond Surface Cooling: Comprehensive Field Assessment of Reflective Pavement Thermal Performance in Phoenix, Arizona” and provides fully reproducible workflows for evaluating the thermal performance of cool pavement treatments in a hot urban environment. The dataset integrates multi-modal field measurements collected across residential and nonresidential settings, including mobile air temperature traverses, stationary air temperature monitoring, residential mean radiant temperature (MRT) measurements, subsurface temperature profiles, and controlled testbed observations. The data package contains raw and processed datasets in comma-separated value (CSV) format, accompanying metadata files describing site characteristics and measurement protocols, and R scripts (.R files) used for data cleaning, time synchronization, spatial and temporal matching, quality control filtering, statistical comparison, and figure generation. All analyses were conducted using R (version ≥ 4.2.0) with commonly available packages (e.g., tidyverse, lubridate, data.table, ggplot2). No proprietary software is required to reproduce results. Field campaigns were designed to quantify the effects of high-reflectance pavement coatings on surface temperature, near-surface air temperature, subsurface heat propagation, and radiative heat exposure. Temporal alignment procedures include standardized timestamp conversion and nearest-neighbor matching of high-frequency sensor measurements to stop-based metadata within defined tolerance windows to ensure comparability across instruments. The workflows generate summary statistics, treatment–control contrasts, depth-dependent thermal gradients, and time-series visualizations used in the associated publication. By integrating mobile, stationary, radiative, and subsurface measurements within a unified and transparent processing framework, this package enables comprehensive evaluation of cool pavement performance across multiple thermal exposure pathways and supports reuse in future urban heat mitigation and climate resilience studies.
Approximately two-thirds of U.S. energy consumption in the industrial and transportation sectors relies on fossil fuels. These sectors require high-quality heat, i.e., thermal energy at very high temperatures, for molecular transformation processes. The Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program aims to assess the economic potential of utilizing nuclear-grade heat from Advanced Reactors (ARs) to meet the high-quality heat demands. By having industrial processes (IPs) supplied with nuclear-generated heat, manufacturers could benefit from more stable and potentially lower energy costs, reducing reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets. The main outcome of the FY24 research was the thermodynamic assessment and gap analysis of steam generation for IP applications. The study completed in June 2024 demonstrated that the required steam temperatures could be achieved by integrating a heat pump into an AR power plant. After identifying the thermal demands of target IPs, multiple balance of plant configurations for the Xe-100 reactor by X-energy, incorporating a heat pump, were analyzed. Their technical feasibilities were assessed, including the design of suitable axial compressors for these applications. Comparative performance analysis showed that thermal efficiency alone is insufficient to evaluate system suitability. To address this, a new indicator (heat factor) was introduced in the report released in September 2024 to quantify the low-quality thermal power needed to produce one unit of high-quality heat for the IP. Results showed that integrating heat pumps into Rankine cycles enables higher steam temperatures, though at the expense of increased thermal energy input. This report builds upon and completes the foundational work previously undertaken. It focuses on the design of two Balance of Plant (BOP) configurations, both based on Rankine energy conversion cycles: “Case 1”, which involves electricity generation only, and “Case 2”, which combines electricity and high-temperature heat generation for industrial use. For each configuration, a comprehensive equipment list was developed, detailing all major components such as turbines, compressors, heat exchangers, pumps, and control systems. These lists will serve as the basis for future comparative cost analyses, with the goal of assessing the number and type of components required to integrate a heat pump into the Rankine cycle and to establish a heat transport system capable of delivering thermal energy from the nuclear plant to an industrial facility. Using the constitutive equations presented in the June 2024 milestone, the operating conditions of all BOP components for both “Case 1” and “Case 2” were evaluated. These parameters—such as temperature, pressure, mass flow rate, and steam quality—served as the basis for calculating the associated thermal and mechanical power flows. The net power required from the heat pump to raise the steam temperature to the target level was also determined. The thermodynamic performance of the configuration was then assessed using the heat factor metric. The key outcome of this analysis is a comparative table that presents the equipment that was used in the “Case 1” and “Case 2” configurations. This study offers a preliminary comparison of the two designs, providing insight into the impact of integrating a heat pump in terms of component requirements and thermal efficiency. This equipment list, together with the evaluated operating conditions, also serves as a foundation for the economic analyses scheduled for the current fiscal year.
This repository provides the 1D reaction-diffusion simulation engine for the multi-scale framework. It takes monomer-level kinetic and thermodynamic descriptors as inputs, approximated from quantum chemical calculations, to simulate and predict the macroscopic propagation behavior of Frontal Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (FROMP). By solving a coupled 1D reaction-diffusion PDE system, this tool predicts front propagation speed, front temperature, and degree of conversion. The solver explicitly captures the three fundamental ROMP steps, initiator activation/inhibition, chain initiation, and propagation, while accounting for high-temperature cycloreversion as a competing pathway. The numerical implementation uses FEniCS to handle the coupled heat diffusion and reaction kinetics.
Generation IV reactors and future fusion reactor designs have led to more demanding materials performance requirements due to their increased operating temperatures, corrosive coolants, and increased radiation doses compared to the current light-water reactor fleet. Among the innovative nuclear technologies under development, molten salt reactors stand out for their potential to offer superior fuel utilization, intrinsic safety characteristics, and economic viability. Of the proposed Generation IV designs, the gas fast reactor operates at 450 to 850°C and the molten salt reactor operates at 565 to 850°C, with the molten salt reactor design needing molten salt corrosion resistant materials [1, 2]. These increased temperatures and more extreme corrosion environments necessitate higher material performance, such as creep strength, radiation-tolerant microstructures, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature tensile properties. Hastelloy-N, a nickel-based alloy with additions of molybdenum and chromium, has been successfully employed to contain molten fluoride salt at temperatures up to 705°C. However, Hastelloy-N becomes embrittled upon neutron irradiation, primarily due to the accumulation of helium produced by (n,a) transmutation reactions. Furthermore, the corrosive nature of molten fluoride and chloride salts presents a formidable challenge, as these salts can react with and dissolve alloying elements such as Cr, Mo, and Fe, leading to selective leaching, loss of protective oxide layers, and accelerated degradation. High entropy alloys (HEAs) and refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) have emerged as a prominent area of interest, due to their ability to achieve tailored chemical compositions for specific applications. Unlike conventional alloys, HEAs are characterized by having multiple principal elements in equimolar or near equimolar ratios, leading to an unconventional alloying strategy [3]. This alloying strategy is believed to promote unique properties, such as single-phase stabilization of chemically compatible elements, lattice distortion effects due to atomic radius differences, and proposed sluggish diffusion effects. For extreme-environment applications, RHEAs have garnered much research interest because of the possibility of creating relatively ductile materials that can operate in extremely high-temperature environments, beyond the operating temperatures where other Ni-based superalloys begin to lose strength [4-6]. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) initiated a joint international effort with the Czech Republic to explore the feasibility of manufacturing HEAs for high-temperature nuclear applications using advanced manufacturing. This effort was funded at INL by the United States Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy under the Advanced Reactor Technologies and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) Program. The HEAs were specifically designed for the corrosive and irradiation environments experienced in gas-cooled fast reactors, molten salt reactors, and fusion power. These alloys have been manufactured by multiple processes to determine the impact of manufacturing processes on the performance of the alloys in corrosive and irradiation environments. Preliminary molten salt corrosion testing showed that equimolar MoNbTiV and MoNbTi alloys exhibit exceptional performance, with arc-melted variants demonstrating only minimal degradation after 1000 hours of exposure to molten chloride salt at 700°C. Conversely, Nb2TiVZr2 showed significant molten salt corrosion susceptibility and microstructural instability during high-temperature molten salt exposures, and was, therefore deemed unfit for molten salt reactor applications. The MoNbTiV, MoNbTi, and Nb2TiVZr2 alloys were further evaluated through ion irradiation experiments conducted at the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory at the University of Michigan. The microstructural stability and the evolution of irradiation-induced defects were characterized to assess the irradiation resistance of each of these alloys.