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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 55 records · Page 3

Choline Fluoride-Ethylene glycol deep eutectic solvent mixture – Synthesis and physicochemical properties

A critical factor in achieving tunability in DESs is varying the type of hydrogen bond acceptors (HBAs) and donors (HBDs). Choline halides (ChX), such as ChCl and ChBr, have been studied to investigate the effect of the choline anion on DESs. However, ChF-based DESs have been underrepresented in scientific research. ChF has excellent potential, such as high electron affinity, ionization potential, and strong hydrogen bond interactions. Moreover, ChF-based DES can lead to a deeper understanding of DESs due to the NMR-active 19F nuclear spin nature. We report the first synthesis and characterization of choline fluoride-EG (1:2, ChF:EG) DES, which we named “EthalineF.” We studied this mixture using various spectroscopic techniques, including NMR, FT-IR, Raman, and UV–vis spectroscopies. Polarity, density, viscosity, and conductivity measurements were collected as well. Transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) was used to study the solvation dynamics of EthalineF. 19F NMR indicated that some fluoride anions (~15%) are coordinated to the choline cation. In EthalineF, the new type of observed fluoride anions is proposed to be a tight-binding choline-fluoride ion pair. Further, EthalineF has a larger solvodynamic radius than Ethaline. This can explain the lower conductivity for EthalineF compared to Ethaline despite the higher fluidity and solvation dynamics for EthalineF.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

An Improved Pathway to Ethylene Glycol via CO 2

This report describes our efforts to develop a partial electrochemical oxidation process to produce formaldehyde selectively from methanol. The effort examined numerous potential anode materials in pursuit of 70% Faradaic efficiency for conversion of methanol to formaldehyde. Among the various electrode materials tested herein both Pt and PtRu were identified as the most promising catalysts in this process as the Faradaic efficiency obtained in these cases are 40% and >70% respectively. Several other 3d transition metals, Pt group metals and their alloys were also studied in which the Faradaic efficiency was obtained within 5-30%. In case of Pt and PtRu bulk metal electrode shows higher selectivity to formaldehyde compared to their nanostructured materials. Based on the literature, nanostructured Pt and PtRu are considered as active catalysts for methanol fuel cells, thus, lower selectivity to formaldehyde with nano Pt and PtRu in our case was attributed to their preferential oxidation of methanol to CO 2 . Severe catalyst deactivation was noted when 0.5 (M) sulfuric acid was used as the electrolyte irrespective of catalyst formulation. On the other hand, much higher activity and selectivity for formaldehyde was noted when alkaline electrolyte was employed during oxidation. Considering selective electrochemical oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde is an area which is underexplored as of today, our findings about catalyst formulation and process condition is noteworthy in this direction. Both bulk metal electrodes of Pt and PtRu may be cost prohibitive and thus present challenges to the scale up this technology. Therefore, we recognize that additional efforts are needed to develop catalysts with high activities and Faradaic efficiencies similar to bulk electrodes for the electrooxidation of methanol to formaldehyde.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel microstructures encapsulating living cells

We present an easy and effective method for the encapsulation of cells inside PEG-based hydrogel microstructures fabricated using photolithography. High-density arrays of three-dimensional microstructures were created on substrates using this method. Mammalian cells were encapsulated in cylindrical hydrogel microstructures of 600 and 50 micrometers in diameter or in cubic hydrogel structures in microfluidic channels. Reducing lateral dimension of the individual hydrogel microstructure to 50 micrometers allowed us to isolate 1-3 cells per microstructure. Viability assays demonstrated that cells remained viable inside these hydrogels after encapsulation for up to 7 days.

Non-NASA Center↗

The effect of hydroxyl spacing in diols on the solvation structure, dynamics, and transport properties of choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are a class of liquids that offer great potential in alleviating some of the challenges present in today's long-term energy storage methods because they have physical properties that are favorable for storable electrolyte solutions. In this work, a series of glycols (ethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, and 1,5-pentanediol) were studied as potential hydrogen bond donors (HBD) with a common choline chloride (ChCl) as the hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA). The solvation dynamics of the prepared systems were studied by measuring the solvent reorganization response using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (fs-TA). Conductivity, viscosity, density, ET(30) polarity, and dynamics of the prepared DESs were analyzed, with a particular interest in determining the effect of HBD chain length on these parameters. Here, classical molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate how the local liquid structure, solvent dynamics, and bulk solvent properties vary with changes in glycol chain length.

Conductivity↗

An orthogonal metabolic framework for one-carbon utilization

Metabolic engineering often entails concurrent engineering of substrate utilization, central metabolism, and product synthesis pathways to maximize the conversion of a carbon substrate into desired product(s). Here, we report an alternative approach using synthetic pathways for C1 bioconversion that are orthogonal to the host metabolic network, thus minimizing interdependency on native metabolism and enabling more efficient biocatalysts. Here, the engineered pathways are based on formyl-CoA elongation (FORCE) reactions catalyzed by the enzyme 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase (HACL) and generate multi-carbon products directly from C1 elongation units in the form of formyl-CoA. Herein, we use thermodynamic and stoichiometric analyses to evaluate different FORCE pathway variants, including aldose elongation, α-reduction, and aldehyde elongation. Promising variants were further prototyped using cell-free systems (purified enzymes and cell extracts) as well as resting and growing cultures of non-methylotrophic bacterium Escherichia coli. We demonstrate that C1 substrates formate, formaldehyde, and methanol can be used as inputs for FORCE pathways and that FORCE reactions can serve as a platform for varied product synthesis including glycolate, ethylene glycol, ethanol, and glycerate. Furthermore, the orthogonal FORCE pathways have the potential to be integrated with host metabolism for synthetic methylotrophy by the production of native growth substrates as demonstrated in a two-strain culture system.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

A Fast, Accurate and Sensitive GC-FID Method for the Analyses of Glycols in Water and Urine

Glycols, specifically ethylene glycol and 1,2-propanediol, are some of the major organic compounds found in the humidity condensate samples collected on the International Space Station. The current analytical method for glycols is a GC/MS method with direct sample injection. This method is simple and fast, but it is not very sensitive. Reporting limits for ethylene glycol and 1,2-propanediol are only 1 ppm. A much more sensitive GC/FID method was developed, in which glycols were derivatized with benzoyl chloride for 10 minutes before being extracted with hexane. Using 1,3-propanediol as an internal standard, the detection limits for the GC/FID method was determined to be 50 ppb and the analysis only takes 7 minutes. Data from the GC/MS and the new GC/FID methods shows excellent agreement with each other. Factors affecting the sensitivity, including sample volume, NaOH concentration and volume, volume of benzoyl chloride, reaction time and temperature, were investigated. Interferences during derivatization and possible method to reduce interferences were also investigated.

Kuo, C. Mike↗

Upper critical solution temperature polymer assemblies via variable temperature liquid phase transmission electron microscopy and liquid resonant soft X-ray scattering

Abstract Here, we study the upper critical solution temperature triggered phase transition of thermally responsive poly(ethylene glycol)- block -poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate- co -poly(ethylene glycol) phenyl ether acrylate- block -polystyrene nanoassemblies in isopropanol. To gain mechanistic insight into the organic solution-phase dynamics of the upper critical solution temperature polymer, we leverage variable temperature liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy correlated with variable temperature liquid resonant soft X-ray scattering. Heating above the upper critical solution temperature triggers a reduction in particle size and a morphological transition from a spherical core shell particle with a complex, multiphase core to a micelle with a uniform core and Gaussian polymer chains attached to the surface. These correlated solution phase methods, coupled with mass spectral validation and modeling, provide unique insight into these thermoresponsive materials. Moreover, we detail a generalizable workflow for studying complex, solution-phase nanomaterials via correlative methods.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗