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Results for “Morphology control”

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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Modulating the Contact Angle between Nonpolar Polymers and SiO 2 Nanoparticles

Polymer–nanoparticle interactions play an important role in determining the morphology and properties of polymer nanocomposites and controlling the polymeric reactions involving heterogeneous catalysts. Here, in this study, we modulate the interactions between nonpolar polymers and nanoparticles by modifying the nanoparticle surface chemistry and quantify the interaction strength through direct contact angle measurements. We investigate the interactions of three nonpolar polymers, polystyrene, polyethylene, and polycyclooctene, with silica nanoparticles whose surface chemistry has been modified by atomic layer deposition of titania and calcium carbonate and by alkyl silanization. Significant differences in polymer–nanoparticle interactions are observed, which can be attributed to differences in the polarizability of the polymers and oxide surface composition. Compared to fully hydrogenated polycyclooctene, polycyclooctene is shown to have stronger interactions with most metal oxides; however, this trend is reversed following alkyl silanization of the silica nanoparticles, which makes the surface of the particles less polar. These differences in interactions can be leveraged to make polymer nanocomposites with unique properties and enable the selective conversion of polymers without the need for separations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

The effect of blue and infrared laser melting frequency on oxide morphology in 304L

Continuous Wave Laser Beam (LB) melting offers control over the localised heating and cooling of melt pools for welding, brazing, additive manufacturing and solidification. Research into laserliquid metal interactions has primarily focused on the heat and mass transport under large thermal gradients imposed by the localised melting conditions. Recent commercial availability of blue (450 nm) wavelength lasers has enabled the printing of material with poor IR (1064) nm attenuation like Cu. However, little research has been conducted into varying input laser frequency and scan rate at fixed absorption to understand the effects of laser light on surface oxide formation and the underlying liquid metal thermodynamic response. Here, this article conducts laser melting of 304L under Blue (450 nm) and Infrared (IR, 1064 nm) laser frequencies and examines their impact on laser oxide thickness, chemistry and coloration. We find that laser frequencies induce changes in the oxide layer thickness and chemistry that cannot be explained using conventional thermal absorption shifts and fluid dynamics. We suggest that light coupling may have thermodynamic implications for the chemical potential of the liquid metal, which may drive the observed phase behaviour. Identifying mechanisms for the tuning of the chemical potential via laser frequency control could enable the ability to control solidification microstructure and atomic ordering in laser welding and additive manufacturing processes.

304L↗
NASA NTRS1973

The utilization of ERTS-1-generated photographs in the evaluation of the Iranian playas as potential locations for economic and engineering development

The author has identified the following significant results. Hydrologic inventories, throughout the year, were made in interior basins that have not been measured previously because of their inaccessibility. Interior basins during the last ERTS-1 year (August 1972 to August 1973) had driest ground conditions in late September 1972 and had wettest ground conditions from March through May 1973, depending upon location. Bearing strengths of playa soils can be inferred from the changing hydrologic conditions through the seasons as recorded by ERTS-1, with prior ground control. Slight differences in salt-crust morphology and in moisture contest of playa soils can be greatly enhanced by rationing and stretching techniques. Differences in water area and silt content can be enhanced by using a three-stage photographic masking technique employing bands 4, 5, and 7.

Krinsley, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Cells, embryos and development in space

Work continues to focus on the demonstrable totipotency of cultured somatic cells of various higher plants and has examined the conditions which regulate this propensity to be controllably released. This was done with special reference to cells obtained from cultured explants of daylily and carrot. For purposes of identifying the variables in question, work was carried out almost exclusively in liquid media. The events that intervene between the aseptic isolation of tissue explants, the culture of small derived units and free cells and the propagation in large numbers of adventive or somatic embryos to plantlets were traced and certain definitive stages at which control is exercised were identified. In daylily, morphologically competent units are now propagated with a high degree of precision in rotated liquid cultures in bulk, and under the conditions of continuous neutralized gravity, the development progresses so that embryo-plantlets are obtained.

Krikorian, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Protein crystal growth in low gravity

The mechanisms involved in protein crystallization and those parameters which influence the growth process and crystalline perfection were studied. The analysis of the flows around growing crystals is detailed. The preliminary study of the growth of isocitrate lyase and the crystal morphologies found are discussed. Preliminary results of controlled nucleation studies are presented.

Feigelson, Robert S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Space environmental effects on silvered Teflon thermal control surfaces

Cumulative space environment effects on Ag/fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) were a function of exposure orientation. Samples from nineteen silvered Teflon (Ag/FEP) thermal control surfaces recovered from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) were analyzed to determine changes in this material as a function of position on the spacecraft. Although solar absorptance and infrared emittance of measured thermal blanket specimens are relatively unchanged from control specimen values, significant changes in surface morphology, composition and chemistry were observed. Researchers hypothesize that the FEP surfaces on LDEF were degraded by ultraviolet radiation exposure at all orientations, but that the damaged material had been removed by erosion from the blankets exposed to atomic oxygen flux and that contamination is masking the damage on trays flanking the trailing edge.

Hemminger, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

LDEF-space environmental effects on materials: Composites and silicone coatings

The objective of the Lockheed experiment is to evaluate the effects of long term low Earth orbit environments on thermal control coatings and organic matrix/fiber reinforced composites. Two diverse categories are reported: silicone coatings and composites. For composites physical and structural properties were analyzed; results are reported on mass/dimensional loss, microcracking, short beam shear, CTE, and flexural properties. The changes in thermal control properties, mass, and surface chemistry and morphology are reported and analyzed for the silicon coatings.

Petrie, Brian C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Space environmental effects on silvered Teflon thermal control surfaces

Cumulative space environmental effects on silver/fluorinated ethylene propylene (Ag/FEP) were a function of exposure orientation. Samples from nineteen silvered Teflon (Ag/FEP) thermal control surfaces recovered from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) were analyzed to determine changes in this material as a function of position on the spacecraft. Although solar absorptance and infrared emittance of measured thermal blanket specimens are relatively unchanged from control specimen values, significant changes in surface morphology, composition, and chemistry were observed. We hypothesize that the FEP surfaces on the LDEF are degraded by UV radiation at all orientations, but that the damaged material has been removed by erosion from the blankets exposed to atomic oxygen flux and that contamination is masking the damage in some areas on the trays flanking the trailing edge.

Hemminger, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

LDEF-space environmental effects on materials: Composites and silicone coatings

The effects of long term low Earth orbit environments on thermal control coatings and organic matrix/fiber reinforced composites are discussed. Two diverse categories are reported here: silicone coatings and composites. For composites physical and structural properties were analyzed; results are reported on mass/dimensional loss, microcracking, short beam shear, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), and flexural properties. The changes in thermal control properties, mass, and surface chemistry and morphology are reported and analyzed for the silicone coatings.

Petrie, Brian C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A Study of Parameters Affecting Fibroblast Morphology in Response to an Applied Mechanical Force

A precisely controlled stretch/relaxation regimen (20% elongation at 6.6 cycles/min) was applied to normal human fetal, neonatal and aged dermal fibroblasts cultured on flexible membranes. Culture conditions included poly (NH2) or collagen type I coated substrate membranes; control cultures were grown on the same pliable material in the absence of applied stretch. Direct observation and immunofluorescence analyses revealed a progressive change in cell body orientation limited to the stretched dermal fibroblast cultures. Monolayers gradually (over 4 days) acquired a symmetric, radial distribution equivalent to the biaxial array of the applied force. At high seeding density, alignment was inhibited in the fetal cell cultures. This cell strain required collagen type I coating for optimal attachment to the flexible membrane, preferring growth in three-dimensional cell 'balls' on the poly(NH2) coated substrate. Neonatal cells also required the collagen type I coating, but both neonatal and aged dermal fibroblasts aligned efficiently at all seeding densities examined. The randomly oriented neonatal cells on the unstretched control membranes spontaneously detached at confluence, as a single cell sheet. Their aligned counterparts did not detach until the applied stretch stimulus was removed. Low concentrations of cytochalasin D (62.5 ng/ml) disrupted the stretch-related alignment response. Rhodamine phalloidin staining visualized fewer actin stress fibers in stretched, aligned cells than in controls. Both intercellular interactions and cytoskeletal integrity mediate the response to mechanical strain. Normal rabbit corneal stroma fibroblasts (NRC) were also analyzed, and failed to orient under these conditions. This cell type may require a different regimen, or a longer time period, to demonstrate alignment behavior. Supported by NASA Space Biology RTOP 199-40-22 and the NASA-ARC Director's Discretionary Fund.

Grymes, Rosalind A.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Touch-plate and statolith formation in graviceptors of ephyrae which developed while weightless in space

Ultrastructural studies of the statocysts and touch-plates of graviceptors (rhopalia) of Aurelia ephyrae revealed that (1) touch-plate hair cells are present; and (2) cytoplasmic strands from the hair cell bases extend from the neurite plexus to touch similar strands from the lithocytes. This close association of hair cell neurites and statocysts may have important implications regarding the transmitting and processing of positional information with respect to the gravity vector. Graviceptors of ephyrae which developed while weightless in microgravity were compared with controls at the ultrastructural level. We found that hair cells of ephyrae which developed in microgravity had fewer lipid droplets in the large spaces near their bases as compared with 1 g controls. In the ephyrae from the first microgravity experiment, hair cells had more large apical vacuoles with filamentous content than were found in hair cells of ephyrae from the second experiment and controls. The neurite plexus and the network of cytoplasmic strands extending to the statocysts were not different in microgravity-developed ephyrae from controls. Behavioral differences in swimming and orienting in ephyrae in microgravity and controls (reported earlier) were not explained by morphological differences in the hair cells of the touch-plates or the statocysts, although functional differences apparently occurred.

NASA Discipline Developmental Biology↗
NASA NTRS2024

Contamination Results of MISSE 8 Wake and Nadir Samples After 2 Years of Space Exposure on the International Space Station

Spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) are subjected to harsh environmental conditions, including radiation (cosmic rays, ultraviolet, x-ray and charged particle radiation), micrometeoroids and orbital debris, temperature extremes, thermal cycling, and atomic oxygen. In addition, on-orbit spacecraft contamination is a serious spaceflight issue, with silicone contamination being a particular concern. In an effort to understand on-orbit contamination of Materials International Space Station Experiment 8 (MISSE 8) flight samples and other International Space Station (ISS) payloads, contamination studies were conducted post-flight on retrieved Teflon fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) samples flown in the wake and nadir orientations on MISSE 8. The wake sample was Teflon FEP (M8-W11) flown as part of the Glenn MISSE 8 Polymers Experiment on the Optical Reflector Materials Experiment-III Ram/Wake (ORMatE-III R/W) tray and exposed to the LEO wake environment for 2.0 years. The nadir samples were silver-Teflon FEP radiator pieces taken from the MISSE 8 Single Events Upset Xilinx-Sandia Experiment II (SEUXSE II) Power Box and exposed to the LEO nadir environment for 2.14 years. The Teflon FEP flight materials were analyzed for changes in surface morphology and chemistry as compared to pristine control samples. The wake samples were also analyzed for changes in optical properties. There was no evidence of a molecular contamination layer present on the surface of the MISSE 8 wake or nadir facing Teflon FEP flight samples, although both the wake and nadir flight samples contained particulate contamination in some regions. The analyzed nadir particles were primarily zinc rich. The majority of analyzed wake particles were comprised of oxidized aluminum with small amounts of zinc and magnesium. The wake particles appear to have arrived early in the mission (or pre-flight) during a single event. This paper provides details of the MISSE 8 sample contamination analyses.

Erosion↗
DOE OSTI2020

Efficient Organic Solar Cell with 16.88% Efficiency Enabled by Refined Acceptor Crystallization and Morphology with Improved Charge Transfer and Transport Properties

Abstract Single‐layered organic solar cells (OSCs) using nonfullerene acceptors have reached 16% efficiency. Such a breakthrough has inspired new sparks for the development of the next generation of OSC materials. In addition to the optimization of electronic structure, it is important to investigate the essential solid‐state structure that guides the high efficiency of bulk heterojunction blends, which provides insight in understanding how to pair an efficient donor–acceptor mixture and refine film morphology. In this study, a thorough analysis is executed to reveal morphology details, and the results demonstrate that Y6 can form a unique 2D packing with a polymer‐like conjugated backbone oriented normal to the substrate, controlled by the processing solvent and thermal annealing conditions. Such morphology provides improved carrier transport and ultrafast hole and electron transfer, leading to improved device performance, and the best optimized device shows a power conversion efficiency of 16.88% (16.4% certified). This work reveals the importance of film morphology and the mechanism by which it affects device performance. A full set of analytical methods and processing conditions are executed to achieve high efficiency solar cells from materials design to device optimization, which will be useful in future OSC technology development.

Zhu, Lei↗
NASA NTRS1981

Failure of morphology of (0 deg)8 graphite/epoxy as influenced by environments and processing

Optical and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the failure morphology of graphite/epoxy specimens which had been tested until tensile failure. Failure morphology was studied as a function of the quality control variables of specimen preparation technique, prepreg batch, and cure condition, and also as a function of the environmental parameters of temperature and moisture content. Defective specimens were found to exhibit a low energy failure morphology. Poor specimen edge preparation and one batch of prepreg when tested at elevated temperature or moisture content also exhibited energy failure morphology. Postcuring had no effect on strength but did slightly alter failure morphology. Temperature or moisture appeared to decrease flaw sensitivity and thus increase strength; however, moisture also appeared to increase interfacial debonding between filament and matrix. When combined moisture and temperature increased interfacial debonding and made the epoxy matrix more prone to fracture.

Clements, L. L.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of layer thickness on structural, morphological and superconducting properties of Nb 3 Sn films fabricated by multilayer sequential sputtering

Superconducting Nb3Sn films can be synthesized by controlling atomic concentration of Sn. Multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn thin films followed by high temperature annealing is considered as a method to fabricate Nb3Sn films where Sn composition of deposited films can be controlled by controlling the thickness of alternating Nb and Sn layers. We report on the structural, morphological and superconducting properties of Nb3Sn films fabricated by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn films on sapphire substrates with ex-situ annealing at 950 °C for 3 h. We have investigated the effect of Nb and Sn layer thickness on the properties of Nb3Sn films. The thicknesses of Nb and Sn layers were varied in two ways: (1) varied Nb:Sn thickness ratio (1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1), and (2) varied layer thickness of both Nb and Sn layers, while keeping constant Nb:Sn thickness ratio of 2:1. The crystal structure, surface morphology, topography, and film composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) respectively. The results showed Sn loss from the surface due to evaporation during annealing. Superconducting Nb3Sn films of critical temperature up to 17.93 K have been achieved.

Sayeed, M. N.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Preliminary observations on the effects of vector-averaged gravity on the embryonic and larval development of the gastropod mollusk, Ilyanassa obsoleta Stimpson

Fertilized eggs of Ilyanassa obsoleta Stimpson were collected immediately after their deposition in egg capsules. Unopened egg capsules then were affixed to glass slides, and incubated either statically (controls) or on a clinostat (experimentals). After incubation for 9-14 days, hatching occurred sooner and in a higher percentage of clinostated capsules than in controls. Embryos that hatched while undergoing clinostat incubation were abnormal in morphology, whereas other embryos present in non-hatched capsules in the same tubes appeared normal, as did embryos in the control tubes. Although the results are compatible with a conclusion that vector-averaged gravity in the experimental tubes caused the altered development, some other aspects of how the incubations were done may have contributed to the differences between the control and experimental results.

NASA Discipline Developmental Biology↗
NASA NTRS1993

Preliminary observations on the effects of vector-averaged gravity on the embryonic and larval development of the gastropod mollusk, Ilyanassa obsoleta Stimpson

Fertilized eggs of Ilyanassa obsoleta Stimpson were collected immediately after their deposition in egg capsules. Unopened egg capsules then were affixed to glass slides, and incubated either statically (controls) or on a clinostat (experimentals). After incubation for 9-14 days, hatching occurred sooner and in a higher percentage of clinostated capsules than in controls. Embryos that hatched while undergoing clinostat incubation were abnormal in morphology, whereas other embryos present in non-hatched capsules in the same tubes appeared normal, as did embryos in the control tubes. Although the results are compatible with a conclusion that vector-averaged gravity in the experimental tubes caused the altered development, some other aspects of how the incubations were done may have contributed to the differences between the control and experimental results.

NASA Discipline Cell Biology↗