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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Early stage structural development of prototypical zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) in solution

Given the wide-ranging potential applications of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), an emerging imperative is to understand their formation with atomic scale precision. This will aid in designing syntheses for next-generation MOFs with enhanced properties and functionalities. Major challenges are to characterize the early-stage seeds, and the pathways to framework growth, which require synthesis coupled with in situ structural characterization sensitive to nanoscale structures in solution. Here we report measurements of an in situ synthesis of a prototypical MOF, ZIF-8, utilizing synchrotron X-ray atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis optimized for sensitivity to dilute species, complemented by mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, and density functional theory calculations. We observe that despite rapid formation of the crystalline product, a high concentration of Zn(2-MeIm) 4 (2-MeIm=2-methylimidazolate) initially forms and persists as stable clusters over long times. A secondary, amorphous phase also pervades during the synthesis, which has a structural similarity to the final ZIF-8 and may act as an intermediate to the final product.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Design and construction of a cascading pressure reactor prototype for solar-thermochemical hydrogen production

Recent work regarding the efficiency maximization for solar thermochemical fuel production in two step cycles has led to the design of a new type of reactor—the cascading pressure reactor—in which the thermal reduction step of the cycle is completed in multiple stages, at successively lower pressures. This approach enables lower thermal reduction pressures than in single-staged reactors, and decreases required pump work, leading to increased solar to fuel efficiencies. In this work we report on the design and construction of a prototype cascading pressure reactor and testing of some of the key components. We specifically focus on the technical challenges particular to the design, and their solutions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Quench Protection of the First 4-m-Long Prototype of the HL-LHC Nb$_3$Sn Quadrupole Magnet

The quadrupole magnets for the LHC upgrade to higher luminosity are jointly developed by CERN and US-LARP (LHC Accelerator Research Program). These Nb3Sn magnets will be protected against overheating after a quench by a combination of heaters bonded to the coil outer surface and CLIQ (Coupling-Loss Induced Quench) units. The first 4 meter long prototype magnet, called MQXFAP1, was tested at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in stand-alone configuration. The magnet training campaign, consisting of 18 quenches, was interrupted due to the development of a short circuit between one heater strip and the coil. During the campaign, different quench protection schemes were implemented, including heaters attached to outer and inner layers, one CLIQ unit, and the energy-extraction system. The configuration including outer-layer heaters and CLIQ achieved the fastest current discharge, hence the lowest hot-spot temperature. The electro-magnetic and thermal transients after a quench were simulated with the program STEAM-LEDET and found in good agreement.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Vertical Magnetic Measurements of the First Full-Length Prototype MQXFAP2 Quadrupole for the LHC Hi-Lumi Accelerator Upgrade Project

This paper reports the commissioning of the vertical magnetic measurement system and the room temperature (warm) and cryogenic (cold) magnetic field measurements of the first full-length (4.2 m) quadrupole built by the U.S. Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP) (formerly the LARP collaboration) for the high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The magnet, designated MQXFAP2, is a prototype preceding production for the AUP which will provide ten sets of 8.4-m superconducting insertion region quadrupoles for the Hi-Lumi Upgrade. The quadrupoles will be built by assembling two 4.2-m magnets in a single cryostat. Agreement between Brookhaven National Laboratory's (BNL's) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (LBNL's) warm measurement data has indicated that the upgraded vertical magnetic measurement system at Brookhaven National Laboratory is ready for MQXFA magnet production testing. Lastly, the cold magnetic measurement has been performed and preliminary data analysis has been conducted.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Post-print UV curing method for improving the mechanical properties of prototypes derived from two-photon lithography [A post-print UV curing method for improving the mechanical properties of prototypes derived from two-photon polymerization]

Here, two photon polymerization (TPP) is a precise, reliable, and increasingly popular technique for rapid prototyping of micro-scale parts with sub-micron resolution. The materials of choice underlying this process are predominately acrylic resins cross-linked via free-radical polymerization. Due to the nature of the printing process, the derived parts are only partially cured and the corresponding mechanical properties, i.e. modulus and ultimate strength, are lower than if the material were cross-linked to the maximum extent. Herein, post-print curing via UV-driven radical generation, is demonstrated to increase the overall degree of cross-linking of low density, TPP-derived structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Field Soil Water Retention of the Prototype Hanford Barrier and Its Variability with Space and Time

Engineered surface barriers (or covers) are used to isolate underlying contaminants from water, plants, animals, and humans. To understand the flow processes within a barrier and the barrier's ability to store and release water, the field hydraulic properties of the barrier need to be known. A multiyear test of the evapotranspiration (ET) barrier at the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site in the southeast of the state of Washington has yielded in situ soil water content and pressure data from multiple locations for a 9‐yr period, offering the opportunity to estimate soil water retention properties at different locations and times. The upper 2‐m layer of the ET barrier is a silt loam, and the top 1 m also contains 15% (w/w) pea gravel. Within this layer, valid monitoring data from 1995 to 2003 for four depths at 12 monitoring stations were used to determine the field water retention of the silt loam, with and without gravel. The data covered a wide range of wetness, from near saturation to the permanent wilting point, and each retention curve contained 51 to 96 data points. The data were described well with the commonly used van Genuchten water retention model. It was found that the spatial variation of the saturated and residual water content and the pore size distribution parameter was relatively small, while that of the van Genuchten α was relatively large. The effects of spatial variability of the retention properties appeared to be larger than the combined effects of added pea gravel and plant roots on the properties. Neither the primary wetting process in the winter season nor the drying process in the summer season nor time had a detectable effect on the water retention of the silt loam barrier.

Zhang, Z. Fred↗
DOE OSTI2015

Striving toward noble-metal-free photocatalytic water splitting: The hydrogenated-graphene-TiO 2 prototype

Graphane, graphone and hydrogenated graphene (HG) have been extensively studied in recent years due to their interesting properties and potential use in commercial and industrial applications. The present study reports investigation of hydrogenated graphene/TiO 2-x (HGT) nanocomposites as photocatalysts for H 2 and O 2 production from water without the assistance of a noble metal co-catalyst. By combination of several techniques, the morphologies, bulk/atomic structure and electronic properties of all the powders were exhaustively interrogated. Hydrogenation treatment efficiently reduces TiO 2 nanoparticles, while the graphene oxide sheets undergo the topotactic transformation from a graphene-like structure to a mixture of graphitic and turbostratic carbon (amorphous/disordered) upon altering the calcination atmosphere from a mildly reducing to a H 2 -abundant environment. Remarkably, the hydrogenated graphene-TiO 2-x composite that results upon H 2 -rich reduction exhibits the highest photocatalytic H 2 evolution performance equivalent to low loading of Pt (~0.12 wt%), whereas the addition of HG suppresses the O 2 production. As a result, we propose that such an enhancement can be attributed to a combination of factors including the introduction of oxygen vacancies and Ti 3+ states, retarding the recombination of charge carriers and thus, facilitating the charge transfer from TiO 2 -x to the carbonaceous sheet.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Performance and characterization of the prototype nm-scale spatial resolution scanning multilayer Laue lenses microscope

Synchrotron based x-ray microscopy established itself as a prominent tool for noninvasive investigations in many areas of science and technology. Many facilities around the world routinely achieve sub-micrometer resolution with a few instruments capable of imaging with the spatial resolution better than 100 nm. With an ongoing effort to push the 2D/3D resolution down to 10 nm in the hard x-ray regime both fabrication of the nano-focusing optics and stability of a microscope become extremely challenging. In this work we present our approach to overcome technical challenges on the path towards high spatial resolution hard x-ray microscopy and demonstrate the performance of a scanning fluorescence microscope equipped with the multilayer Laue lenses focusing optics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Communication: Dominance of extreme statistics in a prototype many-body Brownian ratchet

Many forms of cell motility rely on Brownian ratchet mechanisms that involve multiple stochastic processes. We present a computational and theoretical study of the nonequilibrium statistical dynamics of such a many-body ratchet, in the specific form of a growing polymer gel that pushes a diffusing obstacle. We find that oft-neglected correlations among constituent filaments impact steady-state kinetics and significantly deplete the gel's density within molecular distances of its leading edge. These behaviors are captured quantitatively by a self-consistent theory for extreme fluctuations in filaments' spatial distribution.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗